Associate Professor Tom Carlson
A/Prof.
A19 - Griffith Taylor Building
The University of Sydney
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| Curriculum vitae | Curriculum vitae |
Biographical details
Current & Previous Appointments
2016-present ARC Future Fellow/Associate Professor, University of Sydney
2013-2016 ARC Future Fellow/Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University
2008-20013 Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, USA
2004-2008 Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University/University of Utrecht
Research interests
My research focuses on uncovering the brain mechanisms that support human perception -- how do we see?.
We are a computational and theoretical neuroscience research group in the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney. Our research uses neural decoding methods to study how the brain represents information; and how the structure of information in brain representations relates to, and can be use to be predict behaviour. We use functional magnet resonance imaging (fMRI) to study how information is represented in different brain areas; and magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study how the brain dynamically processes information in time with millisecond precision.
Teaching and supervision
The lab currently has several openings for Honours and PhD projects. Example projects include:
Hyperalignment of human brains.All brains are different. The functional and anatomical differences between individual brains make it challenging to investigate commonalities. Recently, a hyperalignment method was introduced to functionally align brains based on fMRI recordings. The aim of the project will be to design an analog for EEG/MEG. This project’s outcomes will provide a method for neuroscientists to investigate the common representations across individual brains.
Predicting human perception from monkey brains. This project aims to develop models that can be used to predict behavior from brain activity. We will make use of a large dataset of neural recordings from primate brains to predict visual illusions in human participants. This project will involve designing and running a behavioral experiment, then modeling the neural data to predict the behavioral data.
* Please note that this is a computational lab and the research involves computer programming. Students are expected to have programming expereince or a strong motivation to learn. Contact A/Prof Carlson for an appointment if you would like more information.
Current projects
Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project (2016-2019) "Predicting Behaviour from Brain Representations." Carlson, T.
Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship (2013-2017) "Decoding the neural representation of the objects."
In the media
The mountain illusion: What's wrong with this picture? BBC Future. 22 May 2015. (Carlson, T., & Wardle, S.)
International links
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(United Kingdom Medical Research Council)
Collaboration studying the neural mechanisms of object perception with Dr. Niko Kriegeskorte (Programme leader of the Memory and perception group). |
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(University College London)
Collaboration studying the neural mechanisms of motion perception with Dr. Sam Solomon. |
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(National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH))
Collaboration studying neural mechanisms of object and face perception with Dr. David McMahon and Dr. David Leopold (Section Chief of the Cognitive Neurophysiology and Imaging in the Laboratory of Neuropsychology). |
Selected grants
2016
- Predicting Behaviour from Brain Representations; Carlson T; School of Psychology/Research Support.
- Predicting Behaviour from Brain Representations; Carlson T; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP).
2013
- Decoding the neural representation of objects in the human brain; Carlson T; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Future Fellowships (FT).
Selected publications
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