Cognitive neuroscience and human neurophysiology (EEG/ERP, TMS, HRV, pupillometry); occupational and environmental neurotoxicology of organophosphate pesticides; mental health, bioethics and environmental justice in vulnerable populations.

Estudiantes de postgrado supervisados:

MASTER
Paola Tapia (Ongoing, M.Sc. in Neuroscience, UCM). "Resting-state heart rate variability and its association with cognitive functioning in the Chilean adult population". Thesis Supervisor.
Karen Romero (2022). "Estado del arte sobre el estudio del control inhibitorio, la impulsividad y su asociación con conductas de riesgo en adolescentes". Magister en Salud Mental Infanto-Juvenil. Universidad Católica del Maule. Rol: Director de Tesis.
María Victoria Rodríguez (2022). "Diseño Preliminar de un Cuestionario para la Identificación de Factores de Riesgo Gestacional y del Nacimiento Asociados al Trastorno del Espectro Autista en Población Chilena". Magister en Salud Mental Infanto-Juvenil. Universidad Católica del Maule. Rol: Director de Tesis.
Verónica Ortega (2021). "Caracterización epidemiológica de pacientes con diagnóstico de Covid-19 egresados del Hospital de Linares". Magister en Salud Pública. Universidad Católica del Maule. Rol: Director de Tesis.
Carolina Lobos (2018). "Validez convergente entre los test WISC-III y Raven aplicados a niños con talento". Tesis Magíster en Salud Mental Infanto Juvenil, Universidad Católica del Maule. Rol: Director de Tesis
Cynthia Fuentes Fernández (2018). "Actitudes implícitas de profesores hacia la discapacidad intelectual leve". Tesis Magíster en Educación Especial y Psicopedagogía, Universidad Católica del Maule. Rol: Director de Tesis
Carla Cañas Ponce (2019). "Relación del nivel de parentalidad positiva en la regulación emocional de niños y niñas de un Jardín Infantil de la Montaña de Teno". Tesis Magíster en Salud Mental Infanto Juvenil, Universidad Católica del Maule. Rol: Director de Tesis
Eric Lillo (2020). "Uso de Señales de Electroencefalografía (EEG) en problemas de reconocimiento de patrones". Tesis Magíster en Ciencias de la Computación, Universidad Católica del Maule. Rol: Co-tutor de tesis.

DOCTORATE
María Victoria Rodríguez (ongoing). "Effects of rTMS on the acute physiological stress response measured by HRV in agricultural workers exposed to organophosphate pesticides". Doctoral thesIs (Ph.D. in Psychology, UCM). Thesis Supervisor.

Francisco Ahumada (2022). "Emotional modulation of cognitive flexibility through a paradigm of voluntary task-switching". Tesis de Doctorado en Psicología, Universidad Católica del Maule. Rol: Director de Tesis

POST-DOC SUPERVISED
Chiara Saracini (2017-2019), investigadora post-doctoral en el Centro de Investigación de Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica del Maule. Rol: Supervisor a cargo.

INTERNATIONAL UNDERGRADUATE SUPERVISION (selection)

• James Bennion (Undergraduate Final Research Dissertation, University of Cambridge, UK). "Narrative resting-state neuromarkers, executive functions and pesticide exposure".
• Tannelle Reid (Undergraduate Final Research Dissertation, University of Cambridge, UK). "Pesticide exposure and mental health".
• Naalini Bird (Undergraduate Final Research Dissertation, University of Cambridge, UK). "Effect of exposure to pesticides on eco-anxiety development in young adults".

INVITED LECTURES AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES (selection)

Keynote lecture "Applied neuroscience with transcranial magnetic stimulation: from the lab to biomarkers". Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Sciences, Universidad San Sebastián / Andover Alianza Médica, November 2025.

Member of the Local Organizing Committee, 36th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE 2024), Santiago, Chile, 25–28 August 2024. ISEE is the leading international scientific society for environmental epidemiology, and the 2024 annual conference was the first ISEE meeting hosted in Chile. As LOC member, I contributed to the planning and coordination of the scientific and logistical aspects of the conference together with the LOC chair (Dr. María Elisa Quinteros Cáceres, Universidad de Talca), co-chair (Dr. Verónica Iglesias Alamos, Universidad de Chile) and a multinational committee of colleagues from Chile, Brazil and Colombia, supporting the conference's regional focus on environmental health in Latin America. (https://iseeconference.org/about-the-conference/committees/)

Organiser of the International Seminar "Neuroscience and Climate Change: Impact on Nervous System Health in Vulnerable Populations" (FOVI230078), Chile, June 2024. This Seminar had as keynote speakers many leaders of the neuroscience research field: Prof. Anne Urai (U Leiden, NL), Prof. Simon Van Gaal (UvA, NL); Prof. Tristan Bekinschtein (UCambridge,UK); Prof. Sidarta Ribeiro (UFRN, Brazil). (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUf4_vMkryk).

Organizer, Cutting Gardens 2023 – Talca Garden (CuttingEEG), Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile, October 2023. Local host of one of the international nodes of the decentralized CuttingEEG conference, held at CINPSI Neurocog over four days with in-person sessions and live streaming to the Global Program. The scientific program covered consciousness, perception and prediction, bistable perceptual phenomena, and EEG microstates, with invited contributions from Andrés Canales-Johnson (UCM/U Cambridge), Chiara Saracini (UCM), Jacobo Sitt (ICM, Paris), and an EEG microstates tutorial by Eric Lillo. (https://cuttinggardens2023.org/gardens/talca/)

Speaker Webinar "Neurotechnology and Neurorights", G9 Network of Non-State Public Universities, Chile, November 2020. The panel included national and international experts, including Tristán Bekinschtein, Diego Cosmelli, Ximena Sepúlveda, and Boris Lucero, Director of CINPSI Neurocog UCM. My presentation closed the seminar and focused on the role of scientific ethics committees and the need for clearer regulatory frameworks for brain research and emerging neurotechnologies in Chile.

Charla "Plaguicidas, un peligro invisible para la salud". 22 de Octubre de 2020. Actividad organizada por PAR EXPLORA Maule del Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología, Conocimiento e innovación.

Seminario y taller internacional "Dinámica del desarrollo cognitivo, afectivo y motor: modelos, métodos y aplicaciones". Participa con la charla "Neurophysiological measures of cognitive functioning of agricultural workers exposed to cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides". 28 de Noviembre 2019. Actividad organizada por el Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Cognitivas (CICC) de la Universidad de Talca.

Seminario Internacional "Nuevas alternativas de control biológico de plagas y enfermedades en hortalizas para la región del Maule". Participa con la charla "Exposición a plaguicidas y riesgos en la salud en comunidades escolares rurales del Maule". 04 de Octubre 2019. Actividad organizada por el Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) y el Gobierno Regional del Maule.

Organiza el workshop "Análisis de la Conectividad en Estudios de EEG", desarrollado el 26 de julio 2019 en Talca por parte del CINPSI Neurocog UCM, y teniendo como principal expositor al Dr. Andrés Canales-Johnson de la Universidad de Cambridge, UK.

Organiza el Seminario "Plaguicidas Organofosforados y efectos neuropsicológicos: herramientas de evaluación y estudios en el área", desarrollado el viernes 12 de abril como evento académico de cierre del proyecto SUSESO a su cargo con distintos relatores invitados (Dr. Paris, Dra. Pancetti).

Organizer, Brainstorm Training Workshop: EEG-oriented Analysis, Talca, Chile, December 4–6, 2018. Three-day Brainstorm training session hosted at Centro de Extensión UCM, Universidad Católica del Maule, focused on EEG/sEEG/MEG analysis workflows using Brainstorm. The international instructor team included Sylvain Baillet and Martin Cousineau from the Montreal Neurological Institute/McGill University, Canada, and François Tadel from the Grenoble Institut des Neurosciences, France. (https://neuroimage.usc.edu/brainstorm/Workshops/2018_Talca)

Organiza el workshop práctico de "R-Studio", desarrollado entre el 16 al 22 de Agosto de 2018 en Talca por parte del CINPSI Neurocog UCM, y teniendo como principal relator al Dr.Demis Basso de la Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italia.

Organiza el workshop práctico "Investigación en electrofisiología cognitiva: EEG-ERP y uso de EEGLAB", desarrollado el 03 y 04 de enero de 2018 en Talca por parte del CINPSI Neurocog UCM, y teniendo como principal relator al Dr. Andrés Canales-Johnson de la Universidad de Cambridge, UK.

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STAYS AND VISITS

MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UK, September 2025. Participation in the Cognitive Neuroimaging Skills Training (COGNESTIC 2025) intensive course on advanced neuroimaging analysis methods, hosted at the MRC CBU. (https://imaging.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/methods/COGNESTIC2025)

Aalto University, Espoo, Finland, May 2025. Participation in the 11th Science Factory: TMS–EEG Summer School and Workshop, organised by Prof. Risto Ilmoniemi and his group at the Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University (pioneers of integrated TMS–EEG methodology). The programme focused on integrated transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography methods for cognitive and clinical neuroscience. (https://www.aalto.fi/en/events/11th-science-factory-tms-eeg-summer-school-and-workshop)

Cognition and Consciousness Lab (Prof. Simon van Gaal), Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam (UvA), The Netherlands, May–June 2025. Collaborative stay in the framework of FONDECYT Regular 1251273, focused on joint work combining eye-tracking metrics and EEG, and on consolidating the methodological collaboration between CINPSI Neurocog (UCM) and the van Gaal lab.

Consciousness and Cognition Lab (Prof. Tristan Bekinschtein), Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK, September 2024 and February 2025. Extended collaborative stay in the framework of FOVI230078 and FONDECYT Regular 1240899, dedicated to joint research on EEG markers of consciousness and cognition and to the consolidation of the long-standing methodological collaboration between CINPSI Neurocog (UCM) and the Bekinschtein lab.

Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance (DRCMR), Copenhagen University Hospital – Amager and Hvidovre, Denmark, November–December 2024. Training and collaboration in non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, including participation in the COBS Symposium 2024 on combined brain stimulation methods. (https://www.drcmr.dk/news-events/news/item/1429-cobs-symposium-2024)

Cognition and Consciousness Lab (Prof. Simon van Gaal), Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam (UvA), The Netherlands, June 2024. Collaborative stay in the framework of project FOVI230078 (ANID, International Networking Fund), focused on joint work combining eye-tracking metrics and EEG, and on strengthening the international network on neuroscience and the climate crisis in Latin America linking CINPSI Neurocog (UCM) and the van Gaal lab.

Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Lab (Dr. Alessio Avenanti), Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Campus Cesena, Italy (September 2024). Collaborative visit in the framework of FONDEQUIP EQM210128, dedicated to TMS methodology and to consolidating the ongoing collaboration between CINPSI Neurocog (UCM) and the Avenanti lab. (https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/alessio.avenanti/en)

Consciousness and Cognition Lab (Prof. Tristan Bekinschtein), Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK, July–September 2022. Collaborative stay in the framework of FONDECYT 11190562, focused on joint research on EEG markers of consciousness and cognition.

Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, The Netherlands, August 2019. Short collaborative visit hosted by Dr. Robert Oostenveld, including a guided tour of the neuroscience research facilities at Donders and a working meeting in Nijmegen to lay the groundwork for a future collaboration, with the prospect of organizing a FieldTrip workshop in Chile.

Consciousness and Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology of the University of Cambridge, UK, August 2019, holding a work meeting with Dr. Tristan Bekinschtein to receive his recommendations for the experiment design of Dr. Lucero's Fondecyt grant (Fondecyt 11190562) and to foresee future collaborations.

Visit as a research scholar during one week to the Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health (CERCH) of the School of Public Health of UC Berkeley, California, USA, September 2018, to work with our advisor Dr. Asa Bradman in data analysis and scientific article writing and to hold work meetings with Dr. Brenda Eskenazi to foresee future collaborations.

Visit as a research scholar during one week to the Department of Environmental Epidemiology of the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, Atlanta, USA, September 2018, to work with our advisor Dr. Kyle Steenland in data analysis and scientific article writing.

Research visit as Director of CINPSI Neurocog to The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) of the McGill University of Montreal, Canada, to participate in a work meeting of the NeuroSPEED – MEG Program of Dr. Sylvain Baillet and to make the arrangements for a Brainstorm software for EEG analysis workshop to be held in Talca, Chile.

Research visit as Director of CINPSI Neurocog to The Facoltà di Medicina e Psicologia of Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, Roma, Italy, July 2017, to participate in work meetings with Dr. Marta Olivetti-Belardinelli and her team to evaluate future possible scientific collaboration between both labs.

Research visit, Department of Environmental Health (Dr. Kyle Steenland), Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, USA, September–December 2011. Doctoral research stay with Dr. Kyle Steenland (doctoral advisor), focused on environmental epidemiology training and on the design of the organophosphate exposure and cognition research line.

ACTIVE INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS (in force as of 2026)

• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Consciousness and Cognition Lab (Prof. Tristan Bekinschtein), University of Cambridge, UK.
• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Conscious Lab (Prof. Simon van Gaal), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the TMS Lab (Prof. Yoshihiro Noda), Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
• Active collaboration with Prof. Alessio Avenanti, Università di Bologna, Italy (TMS, ccPAS, SAI), coinvestigator and international advisor in FONDEQUIP EQM210128/FONDECYT Regular 1251273.

SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES MEMBERSHIP

1. Member of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology(ISEE).
2. Member of the Association for Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC).
3. Member of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM)
4. Member of the Latin American Research Consortium on the Genetics of Parkinson Disease (Large-PD)
5. Member of the Cost Action CA24148 / EEG101: Fundamentals of Open & Rigorous EEG Science (EEG101), European Cooperation in Science and Technology (2025-2029)