Portrait of Karim Jerbi

Karim Jerbi

Associate Academic Member
Associate Professor, Université de Montréal, Department of Psychology
Research Topics
Computational Neuroscience
Data Mining
Dynamical Systems
Natural Language Processing
Website
Google Scholar
LinkedIn
X

Biography

Karim Jerbi is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Université de Montréal. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Neuroimaging, and is the director of UNIQUE (Unifying Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence in Quebec). A member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, Jerbi obtained a PhD in cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging from the Pierre & Marie Curie University in Paris and a biomedical engineering degree from the University of Karlsruhe (Germany).

Jerbi’s research lies at the crossroads of cognitive, computational and clinical neuroscience. The goal of his research is to probe the role of large-scale brain dynamics in higher-order cognition and to investigate brain network alterations in the case of psychiatric and neurological disorders. The multidisciplinary research conducted in his laboratory combines magnetoencephalography (MEG), scalp- and intracranial electroencephalography (EEG) with advanced signal processing and data analytics, including machine learning. Ongoing projects in his lab use electrophysiological brain recordings to examine large-scale brain network dynamics in a range of cognitive processes (e.g., decision-making and creativity) and across different states of consciousness (resting wakefulness, sleep, dreaming, anesthesia, meditation and psychedelic states). Jerbi is also strongly committed to the promotion of social justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in academia, and he has a keen interest in the convergence between brain science, AI, creativity and art.

Current Students

Hamza Abdelhedi
PhD - Université de Montréal
Website
Github
Google Scholar
Maryem Benslimane
Master's Research - Université de Montréal
Samin Mahdipour Aghabagher
Professional Master's - Université de Montréal
Website
Github
Google Scholar
Yorguin Mantilla Ramos
Master's Research - Université de Montréal
Website
Github
Google Scholar

Publications

Distinct SMA beta bursts support the development of anticipatory postural control in children
Viktoriya O. Manyukhina
Fanny Barlaam
Judith Vergne
Anaëlle Bain
Oussama Abdoun
Sébastien Daligault
Claude Delpuech
Karim Jerbi
Sandrine Sonié
Mathilde Bonnefond
C. Schmitz
Abstract To compensate for self-generated movement-induced postural disturbances, the brain generates anticipatory postural adjustments (APA… (see more)), ensuring smooth, coordinated actions. APA development continues into late adolescence, yet the specific pathways and mechanisms that remain immature in children are poorly understood. We studied APA mechanisms in 24 children (7-12 years old) using magnetoencephalography (MEG) while they performed the naturalistic bimanual load-lifting task (BLLT). In the BLLT, participants lift a load placed on one forearm with the contralateral hand while keeping the postural forearm horizontal, as if lifting a glass from a tray. To counteract forearm deflection caused by unloading, the brain generates APAs, which involve anticipatory inhibition of the postural Biceps brachii . We found that stronger anticipatory Biceps brachii inhibition was associated with reduced excitability, as indexed by high-gamma (90-130 Hz) suppression, and increased high-beta power (19-29 Hz) in the contralateral Supplementary Motor Area (SMA). Analysis of transient beta events revealed two functionally distinct burst types: (1) 19-24 Hz bursts: time-locked to immediate high-gamma suppression correlated with 26-28 Hz beta power; predicted stronger muscle inhibition and received directed input from middle frontal cortex and precentral gyrus; (2) 24-29 Hz bursts: linked to delayed (∼100 ms) high-gamma suppression correlated with 8 Hz alpha power; predicted earlier and prolonged muscle inhibition and better forearm stabilization, but did not show directional influence from other regions. Results on anticipatory inhibition-related beta bursts replicated mechanisms reported in adults, suggesting that the efferent pathways and transient inhibitory processes underlying APA may already be mature in children. In contrast, higher-frequency beta bursts revealed a child-specific, complementary APA mechanism that may compensate for imprecise anticipatory inhibition. These results reveal two oscillatory mechanisms supporting APA in children and indicate that beta bursts may reflect both immediate cortical inhibition linked to muscle control and indirect alpha-mediated inhibition likely compensating for forearm instability.
2026-03-18
bioRxiv (preprint)
doi.org
LSD Relaxes Structural Constraints on Brain Dynamics and Default Mode Decoupling Tracks Ego Dissolution
Venkatesh Subramani
Annalisa Pascarella
Jérémy Brunel
Yann Harel
Suresh Muthukumaraswamy
Robin Carhart-Harris
Karim Jerbi
Giulia Lioi
Nicolas Farrugia
Abstract Psychedelics profoundly alter conscious experience, yet how they reshape the relationship between brain anatomy and function remain… (see more)s unclear. In particular, it is unknown whether psychedelic states reflect a global disruption of structure–function organization or a frequency– and network-specific reconfiguration of neural dynamics relative to the structural connectome. Here we address this question using source-localized magnetoencephalography mapped onto connectome harmonics to quantify structure–function coupling in humans under lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and placebo. LSD induces a robust decoupling of low-frequency (theta, alpha and beta) activity from anatomical constraints, indicating a global loosening of structure-aligned large-scale dynamics. In contrast, high-frequency gamma activity shows selective reorganization rather than uniform disruption. Greater gamma-band decoupling within core default-mode network regions predicts the intensity of ego dissolution across individuals, demonstrating that while LSD broadly alters large-scale dynamics, subjective loss of self is specifically linked to frequency-selective reorganization of the default-mode network. Functional decoding reveals that LSD does not produce indiscriminate disintegration but instead drives system-specific rebalancing, with preferential decoupling of visual and attentional systems and strengthened coupling within auditory networks. Together, these findings provide electrophysiological evidence that psychedelic states emerge from a frequency-dependent relaxation of structural constraints on brain activity and identify default-mode reorganization as a neural correlate of ego dissolution. These results offer a mechanistic framework for understanding how LSD may exert therapeutic effects by transiently relaxing rigid structural constraints and enhancing dynamical flexibility within networks involved in self-related processing.
2026-03-04
bioRxiv (preprint)
doi.org
Using virtual reality hypnosis during stem cell transplant for patients in hematology: A protocol for a feasibility randomized study
Audrey Laurin
Floriane Rousseaux
Isaiah Gitonga
Jean Roy
Mathieu Landry
Richard LeBlanc
Nadia Godin
Caroline Arbour
Philippe Richebé
Karim Jerbi
Pierre Rainville
David Ogez
Valentyn Fournier
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06817759.
2026-02-26
PLoS ONE (published)
doi.org
Using virtual reality hypnosis during stem cell transplant for patients in hematology: A protocol for a feasibility randomized study
Audrey Laurin
Floriane Rousseaux
Isaiah Gitonga
Jean Roy
Mathieu Landry
Richard LeBlanc
Nadia Godin
Caroline Arbour
Philippe Richebé
Karim Jerbi
Pierre Rainville
David Ogez
Valentyn Fournier
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06817759.
2026-02-26
PLoS ONE (published)
doi.org
LSD Reconfigures Cortical Dynamics Through Faster Brain Rhythms and Increased Fractal Dimension
Venkatesh Subramani
Timothy Nest
Annalisa Pascarella
Jérémy Brunel
Yorguin José Mantilla Ramos
Yann Harel
Suresh Muthukumaraswamy
Robin Carhart-Harris
Giulia Lioi
Nicolas Farrugia
Karim Jerbi
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) profoundly alters conscious experience, yet the electrophysiological mechanisms by which it reshapes neural… (see more) dynamics remain incompletely understood. A hallmark of psychedelic states is widespread cortical desynchronization, typically inferred from reductions in spectral power, but whether such effects reflect genuine weakening of neural oscillations or are confounded by shifts in oscillatory peak frequencies remains unresolved. Here, we address this gap by combining source-resolved magnetoencephalography (MEG), spectral parameterization, temporal complexity metrics, and interpretable machine learning in an LSD versus placebo design, with and without music. We show that LSD induces robust, spatially structured increases in alpha and beta peak frequencies alongside genuine attenuation of oscillatory power, with these effects displaying partly dissociable cortical patterns. Beyond rhythmic activity, LSD is associated with flattening of the aperiodic 1/f spectral slope and increased neural signal fractality and complexity, preferentially affecting sensory, language, emotion, and imagery-related networks while sparing motor cortex. Machine-learning analyses further identify peak-frequency shifts, aperiodic parameters, and complexity measures as key discriminators of the psychedelic state. Music does not robustly amplify these neural signatures and instead shows a trend toward attenuation. Together, these findings provide a comprehensive electrophysiological account of how LSD reorganizes large-scale human brain dynamics and highlight features that may differentiate its neural signature from that of other psychedelics.
2026-01-28
bioRxiv (preprint)
doi.org
Divergent creativity in humans and large language models
Antoine Bellemare-Pepin
François Lespinasse
Philipp Thölke
Yann Harel
Kory Mathewson
Jay A. Olson
Yoshua Bengio
Karim Jerbi
Psychology Department
U. Montr'eal
Montreal
Qc
Canada
Music department
C. University
Sociology
Anthropology department
Mila
Departmentof Psychology
University of Toronto Mississauga … (see 5 more)
Mississauga
On
Department of Computer Science
Operations Research
Unique Center
The recent surge of Large Language Models (LLMs) has led to claims that they are approaching a level of creativity akin to human capabilitie… (see more)s. This idea has sparked a blend of excitement and apprehension. However, a critical piece that has been missing in this discourse is a systematic evaluation of LLMs’ semantic diversity, particularly in comparison to human divergent thinking. To bridge this gap, we leverage recent advances in computational creativity to analyze semantic divergence in both state-of-the-art LLMs and a substantial dataset of 100,000 humans. These divergence-based measures index associative thinking—the ability to access and combine remote concepts in semantic space—an established facet of creative cognition. We benchmark performance on the Divergent Association Task (DAT) and across multiple creative-writing tasks (haiku, story synopses, and flash fiction), using identical, objective scoring. We found evidence that LLMs can surpass average human performance on the DAT, and approach human creative writing abilities, yet they remain below the mean creativity scores observed among the more creative segment of human participants. Notably, even the top performing LLMs are still largely surpassed by the aggregated top half of human participants, underscoring a ceiling that current LLMs still fail to surpass. We also systematically varied linguistic strategy prompts and temperature, observing reliable gains in semantic divergence for several models. Our human-machine benchmarking framework addresses the polemic surrounding the imminent replacement of human creative labor by AI, disentangling the quality of the respective creative linguistic outputs using established objective measures. While prompting deeper exploration of the distinctive elements of human inventive thought compared to those of AI systems, we lay out a series of techniques to improve their outputs with respect to semantic diversity, such as prompt design and hyper-parameter tuning.
2026-01-20
Scientific Reports (published)
doi.org
arxiv.org
Meditation induces shifts in neural oscillations, brain complexity, and critical dynamics: novel insights from MEG
Annalisa Pascarella
Philipp Thölke
David Meunier
Jordan O'Byrne
Tarek Lajnef
Antonino Raffone
Roberto Guidotti
Vittorio Pizzella
Laura Marzetti
Karim Jerbi
While the beneficial impacts of meditation are increasingly acknowledged, its underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. We exam… (see more)ined the electrophysiological brain signals of expert Buddhist monks during two established meditation methods known as Samatha and Vipassana, which employ focused attention and open-monitoring technique. By combining source-space magnetoencephalography with advanced signal processing and machine learning tools, we provide an unprecedented assessment of the role of brain oscillations, complexity, and criticality in meditation. In addition to power spectral density, we computed long-range temporal correlations (LRTC), deviation from criticality coefficient (DCC), Lempel–Ziv complexity, 1/f slope, Higuchi fractal dimension, and spectral entropy. Our findings indicate increased levels of neural signal complexity during both meditation practices compared to the resting state, alongside widespread reductions in gamma-band LRTC and 1/f slope. Importantly, the DCC analysis revealed a separation between Samatha and Vipassana, suggesting that their distinct phenomenological properties are mediated by specific computational characteristics of their dynamic states. Furthermore, in contrast to most previous reports, we observed a decrease in oscillatory gamma power during meditation, a divergence likely due to the correction of the power spectrum by the 1/f slope, which could reduce potential confounds from broadband 1/f activity. We discuss how these results advance our comprehension of the neural processes associated with focused attention and open-monitoring meditation practices.
2025-11-22
Neuroscience of Consciousness (published)
doi.org
Biotuner: A python toolbox integrating music theory and signal processing for harmonic analysis of physiological and natural time series
Antoine Bellemare-Pepin
Karim Jerbi
The Biotuner Toolbox is an open-source Python toolbox for biosignals that integrates concepts from neuroscience, music theory, and signal pr… (see more)ocessing. It introduces a harmonic perspective on physiological oscillations by applying musical constructs such as consonance, rhythm, and scale construction. The core biotuner_object processes neural, cardiac, and auditory time series, providing a unified interface for extracting spectral peaks, computing harmonicity metrics, and supporting downstream analyses. Companion modules extend harmonic analyses across temporal (time-resolved harmonicity), spatial (harmonic connectivity), and spectral (harmonic spectrum) dimensions. Biotuner identifies harmonic structure across different biosignals, revealing significant variations in harmonicity between physiological states. Specifically, the toolbox extracts spectral peaks from complex signals using multiple algorithms, ensuring robust peak detection under varying signal-to-noise ratios. Moreover, we show how harmonicity metrics change across distinct sleep stages and capture variations in the slopes of the aperiodic (1/f) component of the power spectrum. Biotuner provides an extensible framework that unifies music-theoretic constructs with biosignal processing, enabling hypothesis-driven analyses for researchers and, in parallel, creative exploration of complex natural patterns for artists.
2025-11-20
Brain Informatics (published)
doi.org
Combining Virtual Reality and Hypnosis? A User Experience Study in Patients with Multiple Myeloma Following Stem Cell Transplantation
Jade Véronneau
Alexandra Chevestrier-Lefeuvre
Valentyn Fournier
Audrey Laurin
Rémi Caron-Trahan
Mathieu Landry
Joséphine Guiné
Odile Dubey-Harispe
Nadia Godin
Idrissi Moulay
Danny Wade
Sandie Oberoi
Caroline Arbour
Philippe Richebé
Karim Jerbi
Pierre Rainville
Richard LeBlanc
Floriane Rousseaux
David Ogez
Multiple myeloma (MM) and stem cell transplantation (SCT) significantly impact patients’ quality of life. Virtual reality with hypnosis (V… (see more)RH) has emerged as a promising nonpharmacological intervention to address these challenges, yet data on its acceptability and user experience remain scarce. This study assessed the acceptability and user experience of a VRH intervention among adult patients with MM who had undergone allogeneic SCT. Participants used a VRH application and rated their experience through standardized questionnaires and semistructured interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, and qualitative data underwent descriptive content analysis. Findings indicated high patients’ satisfaction, strong perceived relevance, and low cybersickness. Qualitative analysis revealed perceived emotional and psychological benefits. VRH was deemed particularly suitable during hospitalization and treatment periods. This study shows the potential of combining virtual reality and hypnosis for MM patients following SCT. Indeed, they showed high satisfaction levels, paving the way for further studies evaluating the clinical efficacy of such interventions.
2025-10-31
Journal of Patient Experience (published)
doi.org
Combining virtual reality and hypnosis to alleviate chronic pain in elderly with hand arthritis: protocol for a randomised phase II clinical trial
Valentyn Fournier
Marie-Fania Simard
Sai Yan Yuen
Joséphine Guiné
Floriane Rousseaux
Julie Lebeau
Karim Jerbi
Philippe Richebé
Mathieu Landry
Pierre Rainville
David Ogez
Chronic pain is a common health condition that significantly impacts the quality of life of those affected, affecting one in five people in … (see more)Canada. The prevalence of this condition tends to increase with age, making it a major health issue given the ageing population. However, its management remains inadequate and requires significant mobilisation of healthcare professionals as well as the development of multiple therapeutic solutions. Among these, non-pharmacological interventions such as hypnosis and virtual reality have proven effective. Nevertheless, while the existing literature seems promising, it presents methodological limitations. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effectiveness of an intervention combining virtual reality and hypnosis in an ageing population suffering from a widespread chronic pain condition, that is, hand arthritis. This study will be a single-centre randomised clinical trial. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: one receiving an intervention combining virtual reality and hypnosis, and the other receiving only virtual reality. The effectiveness of the intervention on current perceived pain before and after the intervention (primary outcome) will be evaluated. Secondary outcomes will include anxiety and depressive symptoms, quality of life, relaxation and fatigue. Exploratory analyses will also be conducted to contribute to the emerging literature by examining physiological variables such as heart rate variability, respiratory rate and electrodermal activity during the intervention, and their relationship with primary and secondary outcomes. The project was approved by the Research Ethical Committee of the Hospital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (Project no 2024-3539). Participants will be asked to provide written consent for their participation. Results from this study will be shared through peer-reviewed publications, as well as oral and poster presentations at scientific events. The protocol for this study was preregistered on Open Science Framework and raw anonymised data will be available on this platform ( https://osf.io/vbh72/?view_only=1d17c5708f894faab6669d85e1fde75d ). NCT06833905 .
2025-09-30
BMJ Open (published)
doi.org
Intrinsic Neural Oscillations Predict Verbal Learning Performance and Encoding Strategy Use
Victor Oswald
Mathieu Landry
Hamza Abdelhedi
Sarah Lippé
Philippe Robaey
Karim Jerbi
2025-09-27
BioRxiv (preprint)
doi.org
Effects of a Virtual Reality Hypnosis Intervention on Chronic Pain: A User Experience and Proof-of-concept Study
Alexandra Chevestrier-Lefeuvre
Joséphine Guiné
Jade Véronneau
Julie Lebeau
Floriane Rousseaux
Audrey Laurin
Marie-Fania Simard
Nadia Godin
Karim Jerbi
Philippe Richebé
Mathieu Landry
Pierre Rainville
Valentyn Fournier
David Ogez
Abstract

Chronic pain is a significant public health issue in Canada, with approximately one in four Canadians ove… (see more)r the age of 15 living with this condition. Due to its impact on individuals—both physically and psychologically—and its financial burden on the healthcare system, it is crucial to develop cost-effective and efficient treatment methods. Hypnosis and virtual reality have emerged as promising solutions in this context. This study aims to evaluate the preliminary efficacy and feasibility of an intervention combining virtual reality and hypnosis. The study involved 30 patients with chronic pain who were invited to test a hypnosis application delivered through a virtual reality device. Levels of pain, anxiety, and relaxation were measured before and after the intervention, while satisfaction, cybersickness, and user experience were evaluated post-intervention. At the end of the intervention, participants were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview to provide feedback on their satisfaction with the experience. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the intervention, a positive user experience, and minimal symptoms of cybersickness. The intervention was effective in reducing anxiety (W = 173.5, p = .002) and pain (W = 253.5, p< .001) while significantly enhancing relaxation levels (W = 9.00, p< .001). This intervention demonstrated effectiveness in reducing pain and anxiety while improving relaxation levels among individuals with chronic pain, paving the way for further investigations of the involved mechanisms.

2025-07-13
Research Square (preprint)
doi.org