I am an assistant professor in computational neuroscience at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, since 2017. My research is concerned with the study of neural systems by means of theoretical and computational models. In particular, my aim is to use computational models to bring together different levels of description (from small neural networks to large brain structures) and use them to understand cognitive functions such as multisensory integration, attention, working memory and decision making. I am also interested in the potential use of these models in the study of brain disorders. Most of this research is carried out in collaboration with other researchers at the Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Group (headed by Prof. Cyriel Pennartz) as well as with other external collaborators.

I pursued my PhD in the group of Statistical Physics in the University of Granada, Spain, under the supervision of Prof. Joaquín J. Torres. My research within this group focused on the influence of short-term synaptic dynamics in several tasks, such as signal detection, dynamics of population electrical activity, learning and memory. My results pointed out that short-term synaptic dynamics is a plausible origin for the observed irregularity in cortical 'up' and 'down' states, as well as a fundamental ingredient to maximize information storage and transmission in neural systems.

In 2010, I moved to work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Centre for Neural Dynamics in the University of Ottawa, Canada, and more precisely in the laboratory of Prof. André Longtin. There I applied my knowledge on neural modelling to study redundant signal cancellation and novel stimulus detection. In order to achieve a deep understanding of these phenomena, we combined theoretical modelling and computer simulations with in vitro and in vivo electrophysiological recordings from the weakly electric fish, recorded in Prof. Len Maler's lab. I also worked in the effects of neural heterogeneity on neural coding properties.

In 2013 I moved to the Center for Neural Science in New York University, where I stayed until 2017. There I worked, first as a postdoctoral associate and later as an assistant research scientist, in the lab of Prof. Xiao-Jing Wang. We collaborated with Prof. Henry Kennedy in Lyon, France, to build anatomically constrained large-scale models of the macaque brain, and used them to study long-range cortical communication during cognition and its oscillatory signatures as revealed by experiments. Our models furthermore provided new insight on strategies for large-scale signal propagation in cortex and mechanisms of working memory and attention.

If you are interested in getting involved in our research, please send me an email to discuss existing possibilities. For more details, you can also see my list of publications.