A new lab website is coming soon…

We are recruiting a lab manager, students and post-docs. Get in touch if you would like to join the lab!

Our multidisciplinary research focuses on neuroimaging of the human brain to identify and understand functional brain networks. Our research is in the intersection of neuro-engineering and cognitive neuroscience, and we use multiple imaging modalities to understand brain function. We use computational approaches for data analysis such as machine learning and develop methods for individual-oriented neuroimaging in clinical populations such as patients with brain tumours. We aim to understand basic neural mechanisms as well as apply scientific methods and knowledge to clinical use. 

One aspect of our research focuses on the brain systems that support executive control (also called ‘executive functions’ or ‘cognitive control’) – a collection of cognitive functions such as attention, planning, reasoning and problem solving. Important questions include how we implement a mental plan, allocate resources accordingly, and select the relevant information that we need. We aim to understand the organisation of these systems in individuals and the neural codes that underlie cognitive control in health and disease: how stages of processing are dynamically reflected in different types of neural signals, what happens to the neural system when it fails to appropriately process information, what factors influence these failures, and how we can improve the way we process information and solve problems.

Our work combines a variety of techniques such as neuroimaging (fMRI), electrocorticography (ECoG), single-cell data, and behavioural and computational methods. The clinical branch of our work involves multi-modality functional mapping in patients with brain tumours before, during and after surgeries.

Click here for a film by the BBC about our work: cognitive mapping during awake brain surgeries for patients with brain tumours.

A talk by Yaara as part of Cambridge Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Seminars here.

Please get in touch if you are interested in joining the lab: yaara.erez@biu.ac.il.