In my current project, I investigate electrophysiological laminar-specific responses to visual stimuli using a multivariate pattern classification approach and biologically inspired modeling techniques. My aim is to relate the insights revealed by these to neuronal responses indirectly observed using laminar fMRI. I am particularly interested in disentangling feedforward, lateral and feedback interactions across the visual system during the processing of naturalistic stimuli. 

I obtained a LSc degree in Biology at the University of Chile and completed my PhD at the Visual Neuroscience Lab of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, with a thesis about the neuroanatomical organization of intrinsic activity in early visual cortical areas measured using resting state fMRI. During my PhD, I developed new resting state fMRI analyses that reveal fine-grained details of the neuroanatomical functional organization of the human visual cortex. I am also interested in computational modelling, biology & history and philosophy of science. My forthcoming project will be about characterizing neocortical-hippocampal dialogues during visual episodic memory consolidation.

7. Invernizzi, A., Gravel N., Haak KV., Renken, R. & Cornelissen, FW. (2021) Assessing Uncertainty and Reliability of Connective Field Estimations From Resting State fMRI Activity at 3T. Frontiers Neuroscience 15, 625309

6. Gravel, N., Renken, R., Harvey, B., Deco, G., Cornelissen, FW. & Gilson. M. (2020). Propagation of BOLD activity reveals task-dependent directed interactions across human visual cortex. Cerebral Cortex 200, 5899-5914.

5. Hindriks, R., Mantini, R., Gravel, N. & Deco, G. (2018). Latency analysis of resting-state BOLD-fMRI reveals traveling waves in visual cortex linking task-positive and task-negative networks. NeuroImage 200, 259-274.

4. Servaas, M., Kos, C., Gravel, N., Marsman JB., van Tol, MJ. & Aleman, A. (2018). Rigidity in Motor Behavior and Brain Functioning in Patients With Schizophrenia and High Levels of Apathy. Schizophrenia bulletin 45 (3), 542-551.

3. Gravel, N., Harvey, B., Renken, R., Dumoulin, SO. & Cornelissen, FW. (2018). Phase-synchronization-based parcellation of resting state fMRI signals reveals topographically organized clusters in early visual cortex. NeuroImage 170, 424-443.

2. Nordhjem, B., Petrozzelli, C., Gravel, N., Renken, R. & Cornelissen, FW. (2015). Eyes on emergency: Fast detection yet slow recognition of emerging images. Journal of Vision 15, (9), 8.

1. Gravel, N., Harvey, B., Nordhjem, B., Haak, K., Dumoulin, SO. Renken, R., Ćurčić-Blake, B. & Cornelissen, FW. (2014). Cortical connective field estimates from resting state fMRI activity. Frontiers in neuroscience 8, 339.