Profiles
Dr Julien Besle
Lecturer in Psychology
School of Psychology (Faculty of Health)
Biography
Biography
I completed completed a PhD in cognitive neuroscience in Lyon, France in 2007. I then worked as a research scientist at Columbia University in New York (2007-2009), at the University of Nottingham (2009-2012) and at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research in Nottingham (2012-2016). From 2017 to 2022, I held an Assistant Professorship at the American University of Beirut, in Lebanon.
I am interested in the neural underpinnings of sensory perception (hearing, vision and touch), which I study using a range of neuroimaging techniques, from EEG, MEG and intracranial EEG to structural and functional MRI.
I am interested in the neural underpinnings of sensory perception (hearing, vision and touch), which I study using a range of neuroimaging techniques, from EEG, MEG and intracranial EEG to structural and functional MRI.
Key publications
(2022) 'Fast Event-Related Mapping of Population Fingertip Tuning Properties in Human Sensorimotor Cortex at 7T' eneuro 9, (5) ENEURO.0069-22.2022 , DOI
(2018) 'Is Human Auditory Cortex Organization Compatible With the Monkey Model? Contrary Evidence From Ultra-High-Field Functional and Structural MRI' Cerebral Cortex 29, (1) 410-428 , DOI
Teaching
Teaching
Teaching interests
Perception
Cognitive Neuroscience
Brain Imaging
Research methods
Brain Imaging
Research methods
Research
Research
Research interests
- Auditory, tactile and visual perception
- Neuroimaging (functional and anatomical MRI, EEG, MEG, intracranial EEG)
Research degrees awarded to supervised students
2019Master student co-supervision “Single-subject, in vivo parcellation of human auditory cortex using functional, structural and diffusion MRI”,
Candidate: Iman Nassar, MSc in Brain Imaging, Lebanese University
2015 – 2019PhD student co-supervision “Towards the detection of tonotopic re-organization in the human auditory cortex”,
PhD candidate: Ben Gurer, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham
2013 – 2014Undergraduateproject student supervision “In-Vivo Parcellation of the Core Human Auditory Cortex”
BSc Neuroscience (3rd year), University of Nottingham
Candidate: Iman Nassar, MSc in Brain Imaging, Lebanese University
2015 – 2019PhD student co-supervision “Towards the detection of tonotopic re-organization in the human auditory cortex”,
PhD candidate: Ben Gurer, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham
2013 – 2014Undergraduateproject student supervision “In-Vivo Parcellation of the Core Human Auditory Cortex”
BSc Neuroscience (3rd year), University of Nottingham
Grants & contracts
2021 – 2023 American University of Beirut Research Board Faculty Research Grant ($29,880) "Connectivity-based parcellation of tonotopically-organized human auditory cortex” Role: Principal investigator.
2021 – 2023 American University of Beirut Research Board Faculty Research Grant ($29,400) "Neural circuits for visual object recognition in readers of Arabic script” Role: Co-investigator. Principal Investigator: Dr Zahra Hussain, American University of Beirut.
2018 – 2022 Medical Research Council (UK) Program Grant (£1,800,000) "Fundamentals of human hearing: from basic cochlear processing to cortical representations." Role: Co-investigator (£25,000). Principal Investigator: Dr Katrin Krumbholz, University of Nottingham.
2019 – 2021 American University of Beirut Research Board Faculty Research Grant ($29,400) "Topographical organization of pitch representation in human auditory cortex” Role: Principal investigator.
2017 – 2019 American University of Beirut Research Board Faculty Research Grant ($19,400) "Single-subject, in vivo parcellation of human auditory cortex using functional, structural and diffusion MRI.” Role: Principal investigator.
2016 Erasmus Mundus Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience exchange grant (€9,500) "Plasticity of tonotopically-organized cortico-cortical projections in auditory cortex.” Collaboration with Marc Schönwiesner, BRAMS, Université de Montréal.
2011 University of Nottingham Bridging the Gap Feasibility Award (£10,000) “Neuroplasticity of the somatosensory cortex using ultra-high field fMRI.” Role: Co-principal investigator
2021 – 2023 American University of Beirut Research Board Faculty Research Grant ($29,400) "Neural circuits for visual object recognition in readers of Arabic script” Role: Co-investigator. Principal Investigator: Dr Zahra Hussain, American University of Beirut.
2018 – 2022 Medical Research Council (UK) Program Grant (£1,800,000) "Fundamentals of human hearing: from basic cochlear processing to cortical representations." Role: Co-investigator (£25,000). Principal Investigator: Dr Katrin Krumbholz, University of Nottingham.
2019 – 2021 American University of Beirut Research Board Faculty Research Grant ($29,400) "Topographical organization of pitch representation in human auditory cortex” Role: Principal investigator.
2017 – 2019 American University of Beirut Research Board Faculty Research Grant ($19,400) "Single-subject, in vivo parcellation of human auditory cortex using functional, structural and diffusion MRI.” Role: Principal investigator.
2016 Erasmus Mundus Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience exchange grant (€9,500) "Plasticity of tonotopically-organized cortico-cortical projections in auditory cortex.” Collaboration with Marc Schönwiesner, BRAMS, Université de Montréal.
2011 University of Nottingham Bridging the Gap Feasibility Award (£10,000) “Neuroplasticity of the somatosensory cortex using ultra-high field fMRI.” Role: Co-principal investigator
Publications
Publications
Key publications
(2022) 'Fast Event-Related Mapping of Population Fingertip Tuning Properties in Human Sensorimotor Cortex at 7T' eneuro 9, (5) ENEURO.0069-22.2022 , DOI
(2018) 'Is Human Auditory Cortex Organization Compatible With the Monkey Model? Contrary Evidence From Ultra-High-Field Functional and Structural MRI' Cerebral Cortex 29, (1) 410-428 , DOI
Key publications are highlighted
Journals
Articles
(2022) 'Fast Event-Related Mapping of Population Fingertip Tuning Properties in Human Sensorimotor Cortex at 7T' eneuro 9, (5) ENEURO.0069-22.2022 , DOI
(2020) 'A probabilistic atlas of finger dominance in the primary somatosensory cortex' NeuroImage 217, 116880-116880 , DOI
(2018) 'Is Human Auditory Cortex Organization Compatible With the Monkey Model? Contrary Evidence From Ultra-High-Field Functional and Structural MRI' Cerebral Cortex 29, (1) 410-428 , DOI
(2016) 'Neuroanatomical Alterations in Tinnitus Assessed with Magnetic Resonance Imaging' Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 8, , DOI
(2015) 'Estimation of cortical magnification from positional error in normally sighted and amblyopic subjects' Journal of Vision 15, (2) 25-25 , DOI
(2013) 'Scalp Current Density Mapping in the Analysis of Mismatch Negativity Paradigms' Brain Topography 27, (4) 428-437 , DOI
(2013) 'Event‐related fMRI at 7T reveals overlapping cortical representations for adjacent fingertips in S1 of individual subjects' Human Brain Mapping 35, (5) 2027-2043 , DOI
(2013) 'Regional structural differences across functionally parcellated Brodmann areas of human primary somatosensory cortex' NeuroImage 93, 221-230 , DOI
(2013) 'Single-subject fMRI mapping at 7 T of the representation of fingertips in S1: a comparison of event-related and phase-encoding designs' Journal of Neurophysiology 109, (9) 2293-2305 , DOI
(2012) 'The Representation of Audiovisual Regularities in the Human Brain' Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 25, (3) 365-373 , DOI
(2012) 'Within-Digit Functional Parcellation of Brodmann Areas of the Human Primary Somatosensory Cortex Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 7 Tesla' The Journal of Neuroscience 32, (45) 15815-15822 , DOI
(2012) 'Electrophysiological correlates of automatic visual change detection in school-age children' Neuropsychologia 50, (5) 979-987 , DOI
(2011) 'Tuning of the Human Neocortex to the Temporal Dynamics of Attended Events' The Journal of Neuroscience 31, (9) 3176-3185 , DOI
(2009) 'Electrophysiological (EEG, sEEG, MEG) evidence for multiple audiovisual interactions in the human auditory cortex' Hearing Research 258, (1-2) 143-151 , DOI
(2009) 'The effect of long-term unilateral deafness on the activation pattern in the auditory cortices of French-native speakers: influence of deafness side' BMC Neuroscience 10, (1) , DOI
(2008) 'Visual Activation and Audiovisual Interactions in the Auditory Cortex during Speech Perception: Intracranial Recordings in Humans' The Journal of Neuroscience 28, (52) 14301-14310 , DOI
(2007) 'Effects of Selective Attention on the Electrophysiological Representation of Concurrent Sounds in the Human Auditory Cortex' The Journal of Neuroscience 27, (35) 9252-9261 , DOI
(2007) 'Evidence of a Tonotopic Organization of the Auditory Cortex in Cochlear Implant Users' The Journal of Neuroscience 27, (29) 7838-7846 , DOI
(2005) 'Is the auditory sensory memory sensitive to visual information?' Experimental Brain Research 166, (3-4) 337-344 , DOI
(2005) 'Task-dependent activation latency in human visual extrastriate cortex' Neuroscience Letters 379, (2) 144-148 , DOI
(2004) 'Bimodal speech: early suppressive visual effects in human auditory cortex' European Journal of Neuroscience 20, (8) 2225-2234 , DOI
(2004) 'Interest and validity of the additive model in electrophysiological studies of multisensory interactions' Cognitive Processing 5, (3) , DOI
Chapters
(2010) 'Methodological Considerations: Electrophysiology of Multisensory Interactions in Humans' Multisensory Object Perception in the Primate Brain Springer New York 55-70 , DOI
Conference Papers
(2003) 'Electrophysiological correlates of bimodal speech perception' 54-55
Other Publications
Besle J, Sánchez-Panchuelo R-M, Francis S, Krumbholz K. (Pre-print) 'Can single-neuron frequency tuning in human auditory cortex be quantified through fMRI adaptation?'BioRXiv, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, DOI