Behavioral Cognitive Neuroscience (BCN) Lab

Welcome to the BCN Lab at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, led by Dr. Matthias Nau.

We study the neurobiological and behavioral mechanisms shared across perception, memory, imagination, and dreaming. Ultimately, our goal is to uncover general principles of how subjective experience arises across these domains and, in doing so, advance our understanding of human cognition in health and disease.

Our research focuses especially on the relationship between eye movements, brain dynamics, and subjective experience. Rather than treating processes such as perception and memory as distinct, we ask which eye–brain dynamics generalize across cognitive states, experimental tasks, and neurological conditions. Identifying such shared patterns can reveal common mechanisms that operate across traditionally separate cognitive domains.

To address these questions, we combine naturalistic, multitask experiments with neuroimaging (fMRI and EEG), behavioral measures such as eye tracking, and computational modeling. We also develop tools and resources for the joint study of brain activity and behavior, most notably OpenMReye, as well as open teaching materials to help train the next generation of cognitive neuroscientists.