News

Empathy in couples

Understanding the adaptative functioning of couples is something crucial considering the harmful consequences of situations of domestic violence.

Choosing the usual or taking a chance?

We always choose the same route back home, but one day, alerted about traffic restrictions, we decide to risk an alternative route. What drives us to make this decision?

Dream and daydream: differences and similarities

Did you know that daydreams reflect events from the previous two days and “night” dreams resemble a fictional plot?

Does your dog have social skills?

A study suggests that viewing the owner’s face works as a positive social reinforcement for dogs. Learn more about this and other surprising results about “man’s best friend”.

Prof. Fernando Lopes da Silva

BIAL Foundation expresses profound sorrow over the passing of Prof. Fernando Lopes da Silva, one of the most remarkable neuroscientists of the last decades, worldwide. Prof. Fernando Lopes da Silva marked BIAL Foundation’s history and path, having played a key role on its affirmation and recognition. He was President of the Scientific Board of the BIAL Foundation, of which he was member since 1997. Prof. Fernando Lopes da Silva was part of the Organizing Committee of the “Behind and Beyond the Brain” Symposia since 2003, and was President from 2009 to 2016. In 2018, assumed the presidency of the jury of the BIAL Award in Biomedicine, created at that time, aiming to recognize a work published in the biomedical field within the last ten years, that translates a work with results of great quality and high scientific relevance.

BIAL Foundation launch new nobel-style award in biomedicine

The BIAL Foundation today announced the launch of the inaugural BIAL Award in Biomedicine. Worth €300,000, the new award will recognise high quality, scientifically relevant research in the biomedical field published as of 1st January 2010. The award will be granted bi-annually from 2019 onwards.

Researchers supported by the BIAL Foundation carried out a project to find how facial expressions are read by the brain

Group of researchers from Porto and London (University College London) With the support of the BIAL Foundation, a group of researchers from Porto and London (University College London), is carrying out a project to find how facial expressions are read by the brain, which results can allow the development of psychological assessment instruments which may help to diagnose disorders, such as autism, that affects emotional perception and behavior.

BIAL Foundation opens applications for research grants

018/2019 - Grants in total amounts comprised between €5,000 and €50,000 The applications for the scientific research grants 2018/2019 of the BIAL Foundation are ongoing until August 31st. The approved applications shall benefit from grants between €5,000 and €50,000 in the areas of Psychophysiology and Parapsychology.

Research project supported by the BIAL Foundation features in the journal Critical Care Medicine

The article Monitoring the relationship between changes in cerebral oxygenation and electroencephalography patterns during cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A feasibility study has been published in the journal Critical Care Medicine in the scope of the research project 142/08 - Multi-centre study into the relationship of memories, consciousness and near death experiences during Cardiac Arrest, supported by the BIAL Foundation.

Researchers supported by the BIAL Foundation published in the journal “Neuropsychologia”

In the scope of the research project 298/16 - Empowering feedback connections in temporo-occipital network to boost visual perception of emotions supported by the BIAL Foundation, the research team led by Sara Borgomaneri published the paper Visual, sensorimotor and cognitive routes to understanding others' enjoyment: an individual differences rTMS approach to empathic accuracy in the journal Neuropsychologia.

"Neurobiology of Aging" publishes findings of a research project supported by the BIAL Foundation

The research team led by João Marques-Teixeira has published, in the scope of the research project The Aging Social Brain – Neural and behavioral age-related changes in social cognition and decision-making supported by the Bial Foundation, the paper Age differences in neural correlates of feedback processing after economic decisions under risk in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

Research project supported by the BIAL Foundation was published in the Frontiers in Psychology

In the scope of the research project 169/16 - The potential effect of behavioral stimulation on social competence in dogs (via endogenous oxytocin release) supported by the BIAL Foundation, the research team has published the paper Gaze-following and reaction to an aversive social interaction have corresponding associations with variation in the OXTR gene in dogs but not in human infants in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Research project supported by the BIAL Foundation was published in the journal Psychological Research

The article The effect of height and shoulder-to-hip ratio on interpersonal space in virtual environment has been published in the journal Psychological Research in the scope of the research project 143/14 - From audio-visual perception to action: the processing of spatio-temporal components, supported by the BIAL Foundation.

“Enhancing the Mind” is the theme of the 12th Symposium of the BIAL Foundation

From 4th-7th April 2018, in Casa do Médico, Porto – Online registration already open! The online registration for the 12th “Behind and Beyond the Brain” Symposium is already open! It will take place from 4th-7th April 2018, in Porto, under the theme “Enhancing the Mind”.

Consciousness and Cognition publishes findings of a research project supported by the BIAL Foundation

The research team led by Mark Blagrove has published, in the scope of the research project 83/14 - Electrophysiological correlates of the incorporation of recent memory sources into REM and non-REM dreams and of levels of insight following REM and non-REM dream interpretation supported by the Bial Foundation, the paper Daydreams incorporate recent waking life concerns but do not show delayed (‘dream-lag’) incorporations in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.

Researchers supported by the BIAL Foundation published in the journal Current Biology

In the scope of the research project 185/12 - Circuit mechanisms of spatial attention in the zebrafish midbrain supported by the BIAL Foundation, Michael Orger and collaborators published the paper Structure of the zebrafish locomotor repertoire revealed with unsupervised behavioral clustering in the journal Current Biology.

The quest of physiological markers for the experience of pain

Researcher: Elia Valentini - Department of Psychology & Centre for Brain Science, University of Essex Summary: The aim of this project is to improve measurement of the human experience of pain by investigating a combination of psychophysical and physiological responses during mild noxious stimulation. More specifically, we want to investigate how sensitive and specific to pain the brain oscillatory responses are. We use EEG as the main technique, but we are keen to collaborate with neuroscientists using fMRI, autonomic measures and brain stimulation as well as with computational neuroscientists. A clinical collaborator would also be very much welcome.

EEG investigation of hypnosis and decision-making

Researcher: Rinaldo Livio Perri - University Niccolò Cusano Rome, Italy Summary: I work in the field of hypnosis and cognitive neuroscience. In particular, I adopt the event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the effect of the hypnotic suggestions on sensory processing and cognitive performance. I am an expert in decision-making and proactive brain processes before the stimulus administration (e.g., the perceptual, prefrontal and premotor readiness during the expectancy stage). I could help colleagues to properly analyze the ERP signal in the pre-stimulus stage of processing. Also, I would be happy to share my EEG data for re-analyzing them in the frequency domain (e.g., wavelet or coherence analysis in the hypnosis research). Feel free to contact me for any question! More information on my papers: https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=-8e_V64AAAAJ&hl=it Possible collaborations: neuroscientist with experience in the EEG frequency analysis Email: perri.rinaldo@gmail.com

Transparent Psi Project - looking for collaborators

Summary: We are running a fully transparent, expert consensus-base multilab replication of Bem’s (2011) experiment 1. The project features state of the art methods to maximize transparency and study integrity. The study involves a computerized experiment taking about 20 minutes per session. Group testing is possible in a computer lab, no specialized equipment needed. Labs are expected to recruit at least 100 participants. Participants will be exposed to images with explicit erotic/sexual content in the experiment. No financial compensation is required for the participants. Data collection is expected to take place in the 2020 fall semester. Every material is provided for ethics/IRB submissions and data collection in English (translation of materials might be necessary by the collaborators). The study is pre-registered and the manuscript is accepted in principle for publication in the journal Royal Society Open Science. All collaborators who meet the minimum sample size criterion will get authorship on this paper reporting the results of the replication study. More information in the preprint: https://psyarxiv.com/uwk7y/ Indicate interest in the collaboration via the following form: https://tinyurl.com/tpp-labs With any question contact the lead investigator: Dr. Zoltan Kekecs, kekecs.zoltan@gmail.com

Cognitive control and learning

Researcher: Ignacio Obeso, Ph.D. / CINAC - HM Puerta del Sur Summary: The aim of our projects is to understand the behavioral and neural mechanisms used to learn how humans establish adaptive behaviour in changing contexts. More specifically, we want to decipher how stopping abilities are initially learned and later executed under automatic control. We use task-related fMRI, brain stimulation and clinical models to test our predictions in laboratory settings as well as online home-based paradigms. Possible collaborations: computational scientist Email contact: i.obesomartin@gmail.com https://iobesomartin.wixsite.com/cognitivecontrol