Dr. Andrea Soddu
My background and PhD in Physics allow me to employ and develop novel mathematical tools in the neuroscience field. Given my atypical ‘multidisciplinary’ career, my early papers belong to the field of high-energy physics and only more recently, since my post-doctoral stay at the Weizmann Institute, to the field of neuroscience. I believe this convergence of physics and neuroscience is exactly what the challenging field of neuroimaging needs.
Being appointed in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Western and joining the Brain and Mind Institute as a Principal Investigator have offered me the best conditions for making my interdisciplinary research program flourish.
Current PhD
Current Masters
Current Undergraduate
Nicholas Popiel (Nick)
My name is Nicholas Popiel and I am a fourth-year undergraduate student doing a B.Sc. with an Honor’s Specialization in Integrated Science and Physics. My passion for learning brought me into the integrated science program where the typical divides of chemistry, physics, biology, and computer science are blurred — much like the field of neuroscience. I have been working with Dr. Soddu’s lab since the beginning of May 2019 when the NSERC USRA term started. In this time, I have developed a model to understand and interpret the meaning of EEG data as well as working extensively on the Generalized Ising model and Integrated Information Theory. I plan on continuing my Honor’s thesis with the group come the fall.
Erik Ge
Matthew Adrian Caius
Sheel Patel
Previous Postdoctoral Fellows
Emily Nichols, Postdoctoral
The primary goal of my research is to explore the interrelationship between demographic and lifestyle factors, and cognitive performance on a massive scale. Borrowing techniques from the field of machine learning — specifically, canonical correlation with cross-validation and permutation testing — I work to generate validated models to identify lifestyle factors that most affect specific cognitive domains (e.g., memory, reasoning, or verbal ability). During my PhD, I used fMRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and event-related potentials to characterize the functional and structural neural substrates of second language acquisition and processing, specifically how they relate to proficiency and age of acquisition.
CV: http://publish.uwo.ca/~enicho4/cv.html
Tushar Das, Postdoctoral
Previous Ph.D.
Sivayini Kandeepan, Lecturer
I obtained my B.Sc. special degree in Physics and M.Sc. in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. I then joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario in 2013 and started working under supervision of Prof. Andrea Soddu in 2016. My research is mainly focussed on analyzing the brain activity under auditory stimulation, in altered states of consciousness induced by a pharmacological agent, using the generalized Ising model incorporated with external field.Moreover, I am investigating the functional connectivity in pathological conditions caused by differed perception of consciousness, such as tinnitus and patients with disorders of consciousness using a tool ‘GraphICA’. This tool combines independent component analysis and graph theory to facilitate visualizing the resting state networks. These work will allow us to understand the modification needed to the structural connectivity of individuals suffering from altered perception of consciousness, to regain their functional ability.
Pubuditha M. Abeyasinghe, Postdoctoral
I am interested in understanding the brain’s complex functions using computational models. Having a background in Physics helped me to get into computational neuroscience where I studied a 2-dimensional Ising model simulated on a structural connectome (generalized Ising model) to find a relationship between the structure and function of the brain. I completed my MSc in 2013 and the PhD in 2019 in the BrainLab under the mentorship of Prof. Soddu. During my MSc, I compared the well-known 2-dimensional Ising model and the generalized Ising model, and during my PhD I optimized the generalized Ising model further. I have introduced a novel method to calculate brain’s dimensionality via the generalized Ising model. Dimensionality that is calculated from this method doesn’t depend on the physical attributes of the system but the functionality. Using the introduced method, I have shown that the dimensionality of a healthy brain is two. My future goal is to optimize the model further to better understand the structure-function relationship of the brain and to use this understanding to help patients who suffer accidental brain injuries to regain their lost functions/communication links. Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health of the Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Previous Masters
Sina Abdollahi
During my undergrad, I studied Astrophysics, however for my fourth-year thesis project I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Andrea Soddu on modeling the brain and on projects aimed at understanding consciousness. I decided to continue my Masters working with Dr. Soddu because of the amazing research that I was able to take part in. Nowadays, I am busy trying to understand the brain from a physical and thermodynamic context and also investigating the integrated information theory of consciousness with the same perspective. My interests revolve around computer simulations, the physics of cognition, and consciousness and machine learning.
Mawra Dawaga
Nasim Mortazavi
I was born and raised in Isfahan, Iran. My fascination with physics started when I was in high school. I remember being so affected with our physics teacher. It was the time that I entered the Provincial Physics Olympiad in my 3rd year of high school. Hence, I did my undergraduate in Physics and continued my master degree in Particle Physics at the Isfahan University Of Technology. Following my primary goal to continue my education, I decided to broaden my search for doctoral studies worldwide and searched for neuroscience. I worked on understanding the consciousness through Granger Causality, as a very novel and sophisticated method in this field.
Pubuditha Abeyasinghe
Demetrius Ribeiro de Paula
Previous Undergraduate
Abbie Charlotte Lai
Abbie is a third-year undergraduate student pursuing an Honours Specialization in Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences. Since joining the lab in 2017, she has been helping with computational analyses to diagnose consciousness from brain activity. She is interested in improving diagnosing ability and treatment options with technology. Her other interests include exploring outdoors, good music, and chocolate mint.
Sina Abdollahi
Alexandria Gignac Goulet
Harrison Hart
Jennifer Ho
Chen Hy
Peter Jeon
Lauren Leyser
Abhilash Mathews
Colin Metrow
Diego Martinez
Zhang Run Fang
Kaushik Shampur
Adam Sosnowski
Ali Tavakoli
Megha Verma
Jack Yuwen Zheng
Previous Volunteers
Andrew Guaiana
Hi, I’m Andrew Guaiana and I volunteer at the BrainLab on a regular basis, helping develop the website and organize the crucial information, so that others may explore the findings and importance of our research. As well, I have ensured that the computer programs related to the research are developed as intended and functioning as expected, and that the physical equipment is up and running. The purpose of my volunteer work is so that I can explore, first-hand, the real-life applications of studying Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Neuroscience, some of which I may study in the future.