What do you want to learn?

The goal of my research is to understand how the human brain constructs unique subjective experiences (qualia) of the external world. I investigate this by combining neuroimaging techniques and computational modeling together with innovative learning paradigms.

What motivates you?

The driving motivation behind my research is the fact that we do not perceive the world as it is objectively; instead, our brains actively shape and construct our perception. The ultimate question becomes: Then how do our brains 'decide' what we perceive?

I assume that our individual perceptual experiences are the result of an interaction between external causes (e.g., the probabilities of events happening) and internal states (e.g., the individual's preferences and motivation). By employing innovative cross-modal learning paradigms together with brainstem-centered fMRI and computational modeling of decision making, I seek to unravel this interaction between the external and internal variables that together determine individual differences in qualia.