We study the fundamental principles of neural coding and communication in biological systems, which is of fundamental importance for the design of neuroprosthetic devices as well as designing artificial intelligence systems inspired on biological systems. Our particular focus is on understanding the importance of temporal dynamics and coding, and the contribution of recurrent processing and feedback connections. In our research we combine experiments (electrophysiology, optogenetics, two-photon imaging) and computational modelling (models of neural networks and design of new data analysis methods).
Neural Codes and Circuits
Research group information
Click on one of the links below for more information about this research group or contact one of the members of this group.
Principal Investigator
Postdocs
- Georgios Spyropoulos
- Cem Uran
PhD candidates
- ERC Starting Grant: from spatial to temporal relationships: new vistas on predictive coding
- VIDI: mechanisms of predicting the future
- NWO Rubicon
- HFSP fellowship
- Heineken Young Scientist Award
- Scopus Life Science Prize
- Onorato, Irene, Sergio Neuenschwander, Jennifer Hoy, Bruss Lima, Katia-Simone Rocha, Ana Clara Broggini, Cem Uran, et al. 2020. “A Distinct Class of Bursting Neurons with Strong Gamma Synchronization and Stimulus Selectivity in Monkey V1.” Neuron 105 (1): 180-197.e5.
- Onorato, Irene, Athanasia Tzanou, Marius Schneider, Cem Uran, Ana Clara Broggini, and Martin Vinck. 2025. “Distinct Roles of PV and Sst Interneurons in Visually Induced Gamma Oscillations.” Cell Reports 44 (3): 115385.
- Saponati, Matteo, and Martin Vinck. 2023. “Sequence Anticipation and Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity Emerge from a Predictive Learning Rule.” Nature Communications 14 (1): 4985.
- Schneider, Marius, Ana Clara Broggini, Benjamin Dann, Athanasia Tzanou, Cem Uran, Swathi Sheshadri, Hansjörg Scherberger, and Martin Vinck. 2021. “A Mechanism for Inter-Areal Coherence through Communication Based on Connectivity and Oscillatory Power.” Neuron 109 (24): 4050-4067.e12.
- Schneider, Marius, Athanasia Tzanou, Cem Uran, and Martin Vinck. 2023. “Cell-Type-Specific Propagation of Visual Flicker.” Cell Reports 42 (5): 112492.
- Sotomayor-Gómez, Boris, Francesco P. Battaglia, and Martin Vinck. 2025. “Firing Rates in Visual Cortex Show Representational Drift, While Temporal Spike Sequences Remain Stable.” Cell Reports 44 (4): 115547.
- Spyropoulos, Georgios, Matteo Saponati, Jarrod Robert Dowdall, Marieke Louise Schölvinck, Conrado Arturo Bosman, Bruss Lima, Alina Peter, et al. 2022. “Spontaneous Variability in Gamma Dynamics Described by a Damped Harmonic Oscillator Driven by Noise.” Nature Communications 13 (1): 2019.
- Spyropoulos, Georgios, Marius Schneider, Jochem van Kempen, Marc Alwin Gieselmann, Alexander Thiele, and Martin Vinck. 2024. “Distinct Feedforward and Feedback Pathways for Cell-Type Specific Attention Effects.” Neuron 112 (14): 2423-2434.e7.
- Uran, Cem, Alina Peter, Andreea Lazar, William Barnes, Johanna Klon-Lipok, Katharine A. Shapcott, Rasmus Roese, Pascal Fries, Wolf Singer, and Martin Vinck. 2022. “Predictive Coding of Natural Images by V1 Firing Rates and Rhythmic Synchronization.” Neuron 110 (7): 1240-1257.e8.
- Vinck, Martin, Renata Batista-Brito, Ulf Knoblich, and Jessica A. Cardin. 2015. “Arousal and Locomotion Make Distinct Contributions to Cortical Activity Patterns and Visual Encoding.” Neuron 86 (3): 740–54.
- Vinck, Martin, Robert Oostenveld, Marijn van Wingerden, Franscesco Battaglia, and Cyriel M. A. Pennartz. 2011. “An Improved Index of Phase-Synchronization for Electrophysiological Data in the Presence of Volume-Conduction, Noise and Sample-Size Bias.” NeuroImage 55 (4): 1548–65.
- Vinck, Martin, Cem Uran, Jarrod R. Dowdall, Brian Rummell, and Andres Canales-Johnson. 2025. “Large-Scale Interactions in Predictive Processing: Oscillatory versus Transient Dynamics.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 29 (2): 133–48.
- Vinck, Martin, Cem Uran, Georgios Spyropoulos, Irene Onorato, Ana Clara Broggini, Marius Schneider, and Andres Canales-Johnson. 2023. “Principles of Large-Scale Neural Interactions.” Neuron 111 (7): 987–1002.
www.martinvinck.nl
Contact information
024-3653276
6500GL NIJMEGEN
Postal address
Postbus 90106500GL NIJMEGEN