Auditory, Motor, Emotional and Numerical Processing
This programme focuses on neural mechanisms of cognitive functions, including attention, auditory and speech perception, motor-sensory interactions and executive control. Moreover, it also includes the study of emotional and musical processing, and in cognitive dysfunction in a broad spectrum of neurological, neurodevelopment and mental disorders.
Principal Investigators
Carles Escera
Full Professor
Judith Domínguez-Borràs
Assistant Professor
María Isabel Nuñez-Peña
Full Professor
Iria SanMiguel
Associate Professor
Marc Via
Associate Professor
Jordi Costa-Faidella
Associate Professor
Technologies & Methods
- Electroencephalography (EEG). Analysis of event-related potentials and oscillatory activity
- Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
- Eye-tracking
- Peripheral measures (electrodermal response, pupillometry)
- Genetic and genomic analyses
Research Team
Concepcion Clemente
Associate Professor
Maria Jose Corral
Associate Professor
Raquel Aparicio
Early Stage Researcher
Trisia Cinca
Early Stage Researcher
Samantha Lopez
Early Stage Researcher
Marta Puertollano
Early Stage Researcher
Jose Valenzuela
Technician
Siham Ijjou-Kadiri
Early Stage Researcher
Emmanouela Kosteletou
Early Stage Researcher
Alejandro Mondéjar
Early Stage Researcher
Natàlia Gorina
Postdoctoral Researcher
Enrico Sozza
Early Stage Researcher
Yesenia Torres
Early Stage Researcher
Carla Salgado
Early Stage Researcher
Active Projects
Estudio de la vía subcortical humana para el procesamiento de amenaza auditiva
Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. PID2020-116311GA-I00. Judith Domínguez-Borràs.
Participación del cerebelo en la percepción y producción de sonidos afinados
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN). PID2021-128624NA-I00. Jordi Costa-Faidella.
Predicción del retraso en el neurodesarrollo en recién nacidos con bajo peso mediante inteligencia artificial aplicada a registros eeg ante sonidos del lenguaje
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. PDC2022-133044-I00. Carles Escera.
Brainlab – Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group
Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR). 2021 SGR 00356. Carles Escera.
Control ejecutivo en personas con ansiedad a las matemáticas: Inhibición, flexibilidad cognitiva y respuesta al error
Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. PID2020-117140GB-I00. Maria Isabel.
Eina predictiva del grau de neurodesenvolupament en nadons nascuts amb baix pes mitjançant intel·ligència artificial aplicada a registres d’EEG. F2I-PdC_2022-001
Fundació Bosch i Gimpera de la Universitat de Barcelona. F2I-PdC_2022-001. Carles Escera.
Eina predictiva del neurodesenvolupament a dos anys en nadons nascuts amb baix pes mitjançant intel·ligència artificial aplicada a registres d EEG. 2021 LLAV 00079
Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR). 2021 LLAV 00079. Carles Escera.
Amenaça d’estereotips de gènere, motivació i ansietat matemàtica: impacte sobre el rendiment acadèmic de les dones en educació superior
Institut de Ciències de l'Educació (ICE) - Universitat de Barcelona (UB). REDICE22-3222. Maria Isabel.
Uncovering the human subcortical pathway for auditory threat detection (HumanSUBthreat)
Unió Europea. 101088954. Judith Domínguez-Borràs.
Ajut per incentivar i consolidar la recerca d’excel·lència ja existent a les universitats públiques de Catalunya. Programa ICREA Academia 2020.
Fundació Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA). Carles Escera.
Valor predictivo de la respuesta de seguimiento de frecuencia (RSF) neonatal para el desarrollo neurocognitivo a la edad de dos años: Factores genéticos y ambientales
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN). PID2021-122255NB-I00. Carles Escera.
El sistema noradrenérgico del locus-coeruleus en la interfaz entre los procesos motores y auditivos
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN). PID2021-128790NB-I00. Iria SanMiguel.
Selected publications
Arenillas‐Alcón, S., Ribas‐Prats, T., Puertollano, M., Mondéjar‐Segovia, A., Gómez‐Roig, M. D., Costa‐Faidella, J., & Escera, C. (2023). Prenatal daily musical exposure is associated with enhanced neural representation of speech fundamental frequency: Evidence from neonatal frequency‐following responses. Developmental Science, 26(5). https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13362
Escera, C. (2023). Contributions of the subcortical auditory system to predictive coding and the neural encoding of speech. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 54, 101324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2023.101324
Font-Alaminos, M., Paraskevoudi, N., & SanMiguel, I. (2023). Actions do not clearly impact auditory memory. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1124784
González‐Gómez, B., Núñez‐Peña, M. I., & Colomé, À. (2023). Math anxiety and the shifting function: An event‐related potential study of arithmetic task switching. European Journal of Neuroscience, 57(11), 1848–1869. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15984
Jacxsens, L., Biot, L., Escera, C., Gilles, A., Cardon, E., Van Rompaey, V., De Hertogh, W., & Lammers, M. J. W. (2024). Frequency-Following Responses in Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, 25(2), 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-024-00932-7
Lip‐Sosa, D. L., Pérez‐Cruz, M., Ahumada‐Droguett, P., Ribas‐Prats, T., Puertollano, M., García‐Gómez, M. A., Mazarico, E., Eixarch, E., Escera, C., & Gómez‐Roig, M. D. (2023). Corpus callosum–fastigium and tectal lengths in late‐onset small fetuses. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, 62(2), 226–233. https://doi.org/10.1002/uog.26169
López-Mochales, S., Aparicio-Terrés, R., Díaz-Andreu, M., & Escera, C. (2023). Acoustic perception and emotion evocation by rock art soundscapes of Altai (Russia). Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1188567
Mas-Bermejo, P., Papiol, S., Via, M., Rovira, P., Torrecilla, P., Kwapil, T. R., Barrantes-Vidal, N., & Rosa, A. (2023). Schizophrenia polygenic risk score in psychosis proneness. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 273(8), 1665–1675. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-023-01633-7
Ribas-Prats, T., Arenillas-Alcón, S., Pérez-Cruz, M., Costa-Faidella, J., Gómez-Roig, M. D., & Escera, C. (2023a). Speech-Encoding Deficits in Neonates Born Large-for-Gestational Age as Revealed With the Envelope Frequency-Following Response. Ear & Hearing, 44(4), 829–841. https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001330
Ribas-Prats, T., Arenillas-Alcón, S., Pérez-Cruz, M., Costa-Faidella, J., Gómez-Roig, M. D., & Escera, C. (2023b). Speech-Encoding Deficits in Neonates Born Large-for-Gestational Age as Revealed With the Envelope Frequency-Following Response. Ear & Hearing, 44(4), 829–841. https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001330
Ribas-Prats, T., Cordero, G., Lip-Sosa, D. L., Arenillas-Alcón, S., Costa-Faidella, J., Gómez-Roig, M. D., & Escera, C. (2023). Developmental Trajectory of the Frequency-Following Response During the First 6 Months of Life. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66(12), 4785–4800. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00104
Ringer, H., Rösch, S. A., Roeber, U., Deller, J., Escera, C., & Grimm, S. (2024). That sounds awful! Does sound unpleasantness modulate the mismatch negativity and its habituation? Psychophysiology, 61(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14450
Roig-Coll, F., Castells-Sánchez, A., Monté-Rubio, G., Dacosta-Aguayo, R., Lamonja-Vicente, N., Torán-Monserrat, P., Pere, G., García-Molina, A., Tormos, J. M., Alzamora, M. T., Stavros, D., Sánchez-Ceron, M., Via, M., Erickson, K. I., & Mataró, M. (2024). Changes in cardiovascular health and white matter integrity with aerobic exercise, cognitive and combined training in physically inactive healthy late-middle-aged adults: the “Projecte Moviment” randomized controlled trial. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 124(3), 909–924. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-023-05319-9
Sturm, S., Costa‐Faidella, J., & SanMiguel, I. (2023). Neural signatures of memory gain through active exploration in an oculomotor‐auditory learning task. Psychophysiology, 60(10). https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14337
Via, M., Pera, G., Forés, R., Costa-Garrido, A., Heras, A., Baena-Díez, J. M., Pedrosa, E., Clemente, I. C., Lamonja-Vicente, N., Mataró, M., Torán-Montserrat, P., & Alzamora, M. T. (2023). Genetic Variants at the 9p21.3 Locus Are Associated with Risk for Non-Compressible Artery Disease: Results from the ARTPER Study. Genes, 15(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15010002