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

Differential and Overlapping Effects between Exogenous and Endogenous Attention Shape Perceptual Facilitation during Visual Processing.
Mathieu Landry
Jason da Silva Castanheira
Karim Jerbi
Visuospatial attention is not a monolithic process and can be divided into different functional systems. In this framework, exogenous attent… (see more)ion reflects the involuntary orienting of attention resources following a salient event, whereas endogenous attention corresponds to voluntary orienting based on the goals and intentions of individuals. Previous work shows that these attention processes map onto distinct functional systems, yet evidence suggests that they are not fully independent. In the current work, we investigated the differential and overlapping effects of exogenous and endogenous attention on visual processing. We combined spatial cueing of visuospatial attention, EEG, and multivariate pattern analysis to examine where and when the effects of exogenous and endogenous attention were maximally different and maximally similar. Critically, multivariate pattern analysis provided new insights by examining whether classifiers trained to decode the cueing effect for one attention process (e.g., exogenous attention) can successfully decode the cueing effect for the other attention process (e.g., endogenous attention). These analyses uncovered differential and overlapping effects between exogenous and endogenous attention. Next, we combined principal component analyses, single-trial ERPs, and mediation analysis to determine whether these effects facilitate perception, as indexed by the behavioral spatial cueing effects of exogenous and endogenous attention. This approach revealed that three EEG components shape the cueing effects of exogenous and endogenous attention at various times after target onset. Altogether, our study provides a comprehensive account about how overlapping and differential processes of endogenous and exogenous relate to perceptual facilitation in the context of visuospatial attention.
2022-12-31
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (unknown)
doi.org
Optimizing deep learning for Magnetoencephalography (MEG): From sensory perception to sex prediction and brain fingerprinting
Arthur Dehgan
Irina Rish
Karim Jerbi
2021-12-31
2022 Conference on Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (published)
doi.org
Processing visual ambiguity in fractal patterns: Pareidolia as a sign of creativity
Antoine Bellemare-Pepin
Yann Harel
Jordan O'Byrne
Geneviève Mageau
Arne Dietrich
Karim Jerbi

Creativity is a highly sought after and multifaceted skill. Unfortunately, we only have a loose grasp on its cognitive underpinnings. Emp… (see more)irical research typically probes creativity by estimating the potential for problem solving and novel idea generation, a process known as “divergent thinking”. Here, by contrast, we examine creativity through the lens of perceptual abilities. In particular, we ask whether creative individuals are better at perceiving recognizable forms in noisy or ambiguous stimuli, a phenomenon known as pareidolia. To this end, we designed a visual perception task in which 50 participants, with various levels of creativity, were presented with ambiguous stimuli and asked to identify as many recognizable forms as possible. The stimuli consisted of cloud-like images with various levels of complexity, which we controlled by manipulating fractal dimension (FD) and contrast level. We found that pareidolic perceptions arise more often and more rapidly in individuals that are more creative. Furthermore, the emergence of pareidolia in individuals with lower creativity scores was more restricted to images with a narrow range of FD values, suggesting a wider repertoire for perceptual abilities in creative individuals. Our findings suggest that pareidolia may be used as a perceptual proxy of idea generation abilities, a key component of creative behavior. In sum, we extend the established body of work on divergent thinking, by introducing divergent perception as a complementary manifestation of the creative mind. These findings expand our understanding of the perception-creation link and open new paths in studying creative behavior in humans.

2021-11-27
iScience (published)
doi.org