Jacqueline Scholl (PI) studied Natural Sciences (Psychology and Physiology) at the University of Cambridge (2007-2010) before moving to Oxford for an MSc (2010-2011) and a DPhil (2011-2016). In her DPhil, she investigated the neural and pharmacological mechanisms of learning and decision-making using functional MRI, MRI spectroscopy and drug manipulations, in the PERL team, supervised by Catherine Harmer . Since then she has held an MRC Skills Development Fellowship (2016-2022, sponsor: Matthew Rushworth ) in which she has examined the neural mechanisms of attributional styles in depression. She has also held a BBSRC Discovery Fellowship (2021-2022) to understand how the brain uses emotions to prioritize behaviours. In April 2022, she moved to the Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre (France) to take up a staff scientist position funded by the Institut national de la santé et de lar recherche médicale (Inserm, National Institute of Health and Medical Research). Her work is currently funded by an ERC Starting Grant, the Group Hospitalier Universitaire Paris and the Vinatier Hospital (Full CV). 

Camille Fakche (Postdoctoral researcher). In daily life, we have to decide what to do, when to do it, and for how long, requiring us to switch between different behaviors. My project focuses on investigating the brain dynamics that drive these behavioral transitions. To this aim, we developed a task where participants have to embody a fish in the ocean, making decisions about when to forage for food (reward-oriented behavior) and when to seek information about predators (threat-oriented behavior), while magnetoencephalography (MEG) was recorded. To characterize the temporal dynamics and transitions between brain networks, we use Hidden Markov Models (HMM). This data-driven method allows one to identify a sequence of states, whereby each state represents a distinct pattern of brain network activity and correlation that re-occurs at different points in time. Furthermore, we study the influence of emotion, e.g., threat level, on decision-making and behavioral transitions. 

Anastasios Dadiotis (PhD student, main supervisor: Guillaume Sescousse, CRNL, Lyon).  Anastasios is a PhD student in Neuroscience at University Lyon 1, focusing on gambling addiction and emotions using fMRI, structural MRI, and Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). He holds a Master's in Stress Science and a Bachelor's in Psychology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, where he investigated problematic use of social media using behavioral modelling and psychometrics.

Tim Palmer  (Postdoc). Tim did his PhD at the University Of Plymouth.  His PhD research was focussed on understanding the neural mechanisms linked to unusual experiences related to meditation, sometimes similar to psychotic-like experiences, which can both be challenging and insightful. Of particular interest, are the alterations to embodiment and sensory processing. In his postdoc now he is contrasting the effects of two meditation interventions (with high vs low body focus) on interoception (heart beat perception), emotional introspection (knowing what you feel) and salience processing.

Tristan White (PhD student, co-supervisor: Nils Kolling, SBRI, Lyon). After studying biology, political sciences, and the psychology of public opinion regarding climate change, I worked in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, studying primate behaviour in the wild. I then completed my Masters in Neuroscience in Marseille, studying molecular and cellular neurobiology, electrophysiology, and specialising in behavioural, cognitive and computational neuroscience. My 1st year thesis was on spatio-temporal representation and cognition, working on rodent hippocampal place cells and macaque superior colliculus electrophysiology. For my 1st placement I worked for 2 months in A. Meguerditchian’s lab on Olive Baboon MRI data, investigating the ties between behavioural and neuroanatomical asymmetries. Then as part of my 2nd placement, and later as a research assistant, I worked in E. Fouragnan’s Lab, investigating the functional and neurochemical effects of transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) in humans. During this time, I also completed a short form degree in Data Science in Marseille, using the acquired machine learning data analysis techniques for the TUS project.

As part of my PhD, supervised by N. Kolling and J. Scholl, I am looking into the effects of interindividual differences and emotions on sequential decision making, via behavioural modelling, webcam-based emotion recognition, fMRI, and TUS.

Noémie Goeuriot (PhD student, main supervisor: Nils Kolling, SBRI, Lyon.

Youcef Kessi (M2 student). I am Youcef, a master student in Public Health at University Lyon 1. My work investigates the neural circuits that enable humans to learn and make decisions, as well as the disruptions of these mechanisms in individuals suffering from psychological disorders. I am particularly interested in how people perceive themselves and their environment, and how these perceptions become biased in the context of depression and schizophrenia. To gain deeper insights into these processes, I adopt an integrative approach that combines comprehensive behavioral studies with advanced computational modeling techniques.

Anaël GUYOUX (M2 student, main supervisor : Guillaume Sescousse, CRNL, Lyon; day-to-day supervisor: Anastasios Dadiotis). I am working on a project that aims to better understand gambling addiction. My project focuses on understanding the dynamics of craving and its correlation with different stimuli (Winning / Pass a wheel / ...) during a reward task. To achieve this, I use fMRI data and Brain signature modeling.

Anthony Zibi (Enginnering gap year student). Anthony works on applying emotion brain decoding maps to a gamified naturalistic task to capture task-evoked emotions.

Hailey Trier (PhD 2019-2023, co-supervised with Matthew Rushworth, Oxford University). In her PhD, Hailey investigated the neural and computational mechanisms of flexibly switching attention between threat and reward, and the impact of emotions and individual differences on this adaptive decision-making process. Hailey has now moved to an industry position.

Lisa Spiering  (PhD 2020-2025, co-supervised with Matthew Rushworth, Oxford ). Lisa's research focussed on the neural circuits that allow humans to learn and make decisions, and how these mechanisms go awry when people suffer from psychological illness.  In particular, she studied how humans attribute credit for outcomes (performance feedback) to themselves or another collaborator and how this is affected by depression.