About
I am a cognitive neuroscientist whose work sits at the intersection of experimental neuroscience, theoretical psychology, and contemplative science.
My research focuses on understanding how physical processes in the brain give rise (or appear to give rise) to first-person conscious experience—what David Chalmers called the “hard problem” of consciousness.
Education: Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience (2012)
Over the past 15 years I have combined functional neuroimaging (fMRI, MEG, high-density EEG), psychophysics, machine learning, and first-person phenomenological methods to study altered states of consciousness, the sense of self, time perception, and the minimal conditions necessary for any experience at all.
I am particularly interested in:
- The neural correlates of meditative states and psychedelic experiences
- Disorders of selfhood (depersonalization/derealization, anosognosia, schizophrenia)
- Predictive processing / Bayesian brain theories of perception and belief
- Whether consciousness is best explained by integrated information, global workspace, higher-order thought, or something else entirely
When I’m not in the lab or writing, I collaborate with philosophers, contemplatives, and AI researchers to explore the ethical and existential implications of understanding (or failing to understand) consciousness.