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Ian Charest

Associate Academic Member
ian.charest@mila.quebec
Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Psychology
Research Topics
Computational Neuroscience
Computer Vision
Deep Learning
Natural Language Processing
Website

Biography

Ian Charest is a cognitive computational neuroscientist whose general research interests are high-level vision and audition.

He leads the Charest Lab at the Université de Montréal, where he and his team investigate visual recognition in the brain using neuroimaging techniques, such as magneto-electroencephalography (M-EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Charest’s work makes use of advanced computational modelling and analysis techniques, including machine learning, representational similarity analysis (RSA) and artificial neural networks (ANNs), to better understand human brain function.

Current topics of research in the lab include information processing in the brain during perception, memory, and visual consciousness when recognizing and interpreting natural scenes and visual objects.

The Charest lab is currently funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant to study the interaction between vision and semantics. Charest also holds a Courtois chair in cognitive and computational neuroscience, which is supporting the development of an online platform for the cross-disciplinary investigation of behavioural, computational and neuroimaging datasets.

Current Students

Publications

Researcher perspectives on ethics considerations in epigenetics: an international survey
Charles Dupras
Terese Knoppers
Nicole Palmour
Elisabeth Beauchamp
Stamatina Liosi
Reiner Siebert
Alison May Berner
Stephan Beck
Ian Charest
Yann Joly
Over the past decade, bioethicists, legal scholars and social scientists have started to investigate the potential implications of epigeneti… (see more)c research and technologies on medicine and society. There is growing literature discussing the most promising opportunities, as well as arising ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI). This paper explores the views of epigenetic researchers about some of these discussions. From January to March 2020, we conducted an online survey of 189 epigenetic researchers working in 31 countries. We questioned them about the scope of their field, opportunities in different areas of specialization, and ELSI in the conduct of research and knowledge translation. We also assessed their level of concern regarding four emerging non-medical applications of epigenetic testing—i.e., in life insurance, forensics, immigration and direct-to-consumer testing. Although there was strong agreement on DNA methylation, histone modifications, 3D structure of chromatin and nucleosomes being integral elements of the field, there was considerable disagreement on transcription factors, RNA interference, RNA splicing and prions. The most prevalent ELSI experienced or witnessed by respondents were in obtaining timely access to epigenetic data in existing databases, and in the communication of epigenetic findings by the media. They expressed high levels of concern regarding non-medical applications of epigenetics, echoing cautionary appraisals in the social sciences and humanities literature.
2022-09-01
Clinical Epigenetics (published)
doi.org
Sleep spindles track cortical learning patterns for memory consolidation
Marit Petzka
Alex Chatburn
Ian Charest
George M. Balanos
Bernhard P. Staresina
2021-09-02
Current Biology (published)
doi.org