Yamil Vidal
Postdoc
Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging
I completed my PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience under the co-supervision of Jacques Mehler (SISSA, Italy) and Tristan Bekinschtein (University of Cambridge, UK), where I used EEG and pupillometry to study predictive processes in audition. Later I joined the lab of Davide Crepaldi (SISSA, Italy) to study how the general domain of statistical learning abilities of our visual system are at the core of our ability to read.
At a theoretical level I’m interested in integrating the study of Predictive Processes and Statistical Learning. While these two field sprout from different research traditions, I think they both deal with the question of how the brain learns and uses patterns in the environment. Moved by this interest, I have organized two scientific events (TEX2021 online, and TEX2022 in person) to bring together the two communities.
On a technical side, lately I have become very interested in computational modelling. In particular, the use of Deep Learning to model sensory processing. Following this interest, I took part of Neuromatch Academy Deep Learning (2021) as Teacher Assistant.
Since the end of 2021 I have joined the lab of Floris de Lange (Donders) as part of the Cogitate project, where I’m happy to work on the topic of consciousness, which I consider is the ultimate question of neuroscience research.
Yamil is interested in the integration of the study of Predictive Processes and Statistical Learning in the visual and auditory modalities. I’m also interested in the potential and limitations of the use of Deep Learning models to understand sensory processing and learning.
