News

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”.

Researchers supported by the BIAL Foundation publish in the Journal Nature Communications

The research team of the project 30/16 - Exploring the neural basis of motivation, led by Ana João Rodrigues, published in Nature Communications journal the paper Role of laterodorsal tegmentum projections to nucleus accumbens in reward-related behaviors.

BIAL Foundation marks its 25th anniversary with an itinerant exhibition

To mark this occasion, the Foundation organizes the traveling exhibition BIAL Foundation - 25 Years, which discloses the work developed on the study and scientific research of the human being during the last two decades. The BIAL Foundation, created in 1994 by Laboratórios BIAL and the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities, marks the occasion with a traveling exhibition curated by Prof. Daniel Bessa, member of the Foundation's Board of Directors.

The results of two research projects on meditation and near-death experiences supported by the BIAL Foundation will be presented at a public session

On October 28th, 9:30 a.m., the School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, will host at Auditorium Zulmira Simões (A0.01) the public presentation of the results of two projects supported by the BIAL Foundation.

Results of a project funded by the BIAL Foundation presented in Psychophysiology Journal

Juan Manuel Toro published in the scope of project Biological bases of music cognition, supported by the BIAL Foundation in the 2018/19 grants edition, the paper Dissonant endings of chord progressions elicit a larger ERAN than ambiguous endings in musicians in the journal Psychophysiology.

Research project supported by the BIAL Foundation published in Human Brain Mapping

In the scope of the research project 195/16 - The sense of self: A neuroimaging study of interactions between intrinsic and extrinsic self networks supported by the BIAL Foundation, the research team led by Sjoerd Ebisch published the paper Brain network profiling defines functionally specialized cortical networks in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

Researcher supported by the BIAL Foundation publishes in the Journal Human Brain Mapping

In the scope of the research project 238/16 - When prediction errs: Examining the brain dynamics of altered saliency in self-voice perception, supported by the BIAL Foundation, Ana Patrícia Pinheiro and collaborators published the paper The role of the cerebellum in adaptation: ALE meta‐analyses on sensory feedback error in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

The Journal Scientific Reports published results of project supported by the BIAL Foundation

Jane Aspell and Flavia Cardini published in the scope of project 121/14 - Maternal Brain Gain: Changes in neural representations and body perception during pregnancy, supported by the BIAL Foundation, the paper Enlarged representation of peripersonal space in pregnancy in the journal Scientific Reports. The results were also disseminated in the newspaper Independent - Pregnant women’s ‘safety bubble’ expands during third trimester to ‘keep danger at arm’s length’.

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.

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