Julian Kosciessa

• Dr. rer. nat.
• Postdoctoral Researcher at Radboud University

The ability to prioritize among input features according to relevance enables adaptive behaviors across the human lifespan. However, relevance often remains ambiguous, and such uncertainty increases demands for dynamic control. While both cognitive stability and flexibility decline during healthy ageing, it is unknown whether aging alters how uncer...

OHBM Brainhack 2022 took place in June 2022. The first hybrid OHBM hackathon, it had an in-person component taking place in Glasgow and three hubs around the globe to improve inclusivity and fit as many timezones as possible. In the buzzing setting of the Queen Margaret Union and of the virtual platform, 23 projects were presented after development...

To make optimal decisions, intelligent agents must learn latent environmental states from discrete observations. Bayesian frameworks argue that integration of evidence over time allows us to refine our state belief by reducing uncertainty about alternate possibilities. How is this increasing belief precision during learning reflected in the brain?...

The ability to prioritize task-relevant inputs enables efficient behavior across the human lifespan. However, contexts in which feature relevance is ambiguous require dynamic exploration rather than stable selectivity. Although both cognitive flexibility and stability generally decline with ageing, it is unknown whether the aging brain differential...

The regulation of moment-to-moment neural variability may permit effective responses to changing cognitive demands. However, the mechanisms that support variability regulation are unknown. In the context of working memory, we leverage the largest available PET and fMRI dataset to jointly consider three lenses through which neural variability regula...

Knowledge about the relevance of environmental features can guide stimulus processing. However, it remains unclear how processing is adjusted when feature relevance is uncertain. We hypothesized that (a) heightened uncertainty would shift cortical networks from a rhythmic, selective processing-oriented state toward an asynchronous (“excited”) state...

Menschliche Hirnsignale von der Kopfhaut bieten einen Einblick in die neuronalen Prozesse, denen Wahrnehmung, Denken und Verhalten zugrunde liegen. Rhythmen, die historisch den Grundstein für die Erforschung großflächiger Hirnsignale legten, sind ein häufiges Zeichen neuronaler Koordination, und damit von weitem Interesse für die kognitiven, system...

Adopting particular decision biases allows organisms to tailor their choices to environmental demands. For example, a liberal response strategy pays off when target detection is crucial, whereas a conservative strategy is optimal for avoiding false alarms. Using conventional time-frequency analysis of human electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, w...

Adopting particular decision biases allows organisms to tailor their choices to environmental demands. For example, a liberal response strategy pays off when target detection is crucial, whereas a conservative strategy is optimal for avoiding false alarms. Using conventional time-frequency analysis of human electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, w...

Adopting particular decision biases allows organisms to tailor their choices to environmental demands. For example, a liberal response strategy pays off when target detection is crucial, whereas a conservative strategy is optimal for avoiding false alarms. Using conventional time-frequency analysis of human electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, w...

Adaptive human behavior builds on prior knowledge about stimulus relevance. Some environments cue such knowledge more than others. To behave adaptively, observers need to flexibly adjust sensory processing to the degree of contextual uncertainty. We hypothesize that the neural basis for these perceptual adjustments consists in the ability of the co...

Multiscale Entropy (MSE) is used to characterize the temporal irregularity of neural time series patterns. Due to its’ presumed sensitivity to non-linear signal characteristics, MSE is typically considered a complementary measure of brain dynamics to signal variance and spectral power. However, the divergence between these measures is often unclear...

Strategically adopting decision biases allows organisms to tailor their choices to environmental demands. For example, a liberal response strategy pays off when target detection is crucial, whereas a conservative strategy is optimal for avoiding false alarms. Using conventional time-frequency analysis of human electroencephalographic (EEG) activity...

The average power of rhythmic neural responses as captured by MEG/EEG/LFP recordings is a prevalent index of human brain function. Increasing evidence questions the utility of trial-/group averaged power estimates however, as seemingly sustained activity patterns may be brought about by time-varying transient signals in each single trial. Hence, it...

Multiscale Entropy (MSE) is used to characterize the temporal irregularity of neural time series patterns. Due to its’ presumed sensitivity to non-linear signal characteristics, MSE is typically considered a complementary measure of brain dynamics to signal variance and spectral power. However, the divergence between these measures is often unclear...

The average power of rhythmic neural responses as captured by MEG/EEG/LFP recordings is a prevalent index of human brain function. Increasing evidence questions the utility of trial-/group averaged power estimates, as seemingly sustained activity patterns may be brought about by time-varying transient signals in each single trial. Hence, it is cruc...

Significance Locus coeruleus (LC) integrity in cognitively normal older adults is a potentially important preclinical marker in dementia. Our study establishes a link between variability in LC integrity and cognitive decline related to noradrenergic modulation in old age. We find that in older adults, reduced LC integrity explains lower memory perf...