Our current work is funded by a grant from the DFG (German Research Foundation) on the "Formation, deployment, and generalization of neural predictions" (2023-2026). 

A recent publication related to this project can be found here: McDermott H, De Martino F, Schwiedrzik C, Auksztulewicz R (in press) Dissociable dynamic effects of expectation during statistical learning. eLife, reviewed preprint.

Here's a description of the project: 

When interacting with its environment, the brain is not only engaged in passive sensory processing, but also in predictive processing of sensory stimuli. Predictions need to be flexibly updated and generalized across appropriate contexts to aid perception and guide behavior. Despite research into the neural and computational mechanisms of predictive processing, the brain mechanisms mediating the formation, deployment, and generalization of sensory predictions are largely unknown. Preliminary work has identified qualitative differences in predictive mechanisms pertaining to different stimulus dimensions, and modulations of predictions by other cognitive factors (e.g., task relevance). However, it remains to be tested whether the neural mechanisms of predictions are shared or dissociable across phases of predictive processing (e.g., during the initial formation of predictions and their subsequent deployment), and whether predictions acquired in one task context (e.g., detecting a stimulus in noise) can be generalized to another context (e.g., discriminating specific stimulus features). Accordingly, this proposal focuses on testing whether the mechanisms of prediction signalling differ across learning phases and task demands. The project combines electrophysiology, neuroimaging, and modeling, allowing for a systematic testing of biophysically plausible, mechanistic explanations of non-invasive data. Thereby, the project will not only elucidate the neural mechanisms of flexible predictive processing, a core function of the brain, but also the role of predictions in learning, offering a blueprint for creating environments particularly conducive to learning and its transfer across contexts.

This lecture recording summarizes our previous research (2015-2022). This work was funded by several grants and fellowships, including:

• 2023 - 2024 Free University Berlin TEAMS Grant (with Rasmus Bruckner). Thanks to this grant we acquired online behavioral data and conducted an fMRI study, which together resulted in 3 master theses. The manuscripts are currently in preparation. 

• 2021 – 2024 NHMRC Australia Ideas Grant “Perceiving is believing: Perceptual inference anomalies in schizophrenia” (with Juanita Todd). Example publications can be found here and here. 

• 2019 – 2021 GRF Hong Kong “Neural mechanisms of prediction signalling along the cortical auditory pathway” (with Jan Schnupp and Nicol Harper). Example publications can be found here and here.

• 2018 – 2021 EC/GRC Joint Research Scheme “Cortical mechanisms of temporal predictions in processing rhythmic sounds and speech” (with Jan Schnupp and David Poeppel). Example publications can be found here and here.

• 2018 – 2021 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship funded my postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (Lucia Melloni, David Poeppel) and City University of Hong Kong (Jan Schnupp). Example publications can be found here and here.

• 2013 – 2015 Research Scholarship of the German Science Foundation at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London (Karl Friston). Example publications can be found here and here.