One of the big mysteries in neuroscience is how particular functions in some neural areas and processes co-ordinate with others to form cognitive systems and neural networks. Our research investigates how brains select what we attend to at any one moment, and how this interacts with the systems that control and anticipate our actions. To explore neural dynamics, we record brain activity (usually with EEG) at the same time as driving the brain at specific frequencies by presenting participants with visual flicker, or stimulating the human brain directly and non-invasively using transcranial magnetic or current stimulation. Our previous studies have shown that (and to some extent, how) perceptual processes are modulated by what action we have just taken, what action we are currently doing, and even anticipate the sensory consequences of what action we are about to do (such as the optic flow we see when we explore the world around us).
After graduate and postdoc work in the UK (Oxford, London), from 2009 onwards I held several Principal Investigator positions at LMU Munich, Germany, including a fellowship in Psychology, a visiting researcher in Philosophy, an associate professorship in Medicine, and an interim full professorship in Psychology, and moved to the University of Zürich in April 2025.