Tim Gastrell

PhD Student

Supervisors

Current Research

My PhD focusses on how the brain uses context to guide decision-making behaviour under uncertainty. I am particularly interested in the application of Bayesian decision-theory to visual perception and how contextual information shapes the neural representations that guide perceptual inference and decision-making behaviour. My research uses psychophysics, electrophysiology and computational modelling of data collected from human volunteers to better understand these processes.

Research Interests

Computational Modelling
Neural Representations
Sensory Processing
Decision-making

Publications

Eisenbarth, H., Oxner, M., Shehu, H. A., Gastrell, T., Walsh, A., Browne, W. N., & Xue, B. (2024). Emotional arousal pattern (EMAP): A new database for modeling momentary subjective and psychophysiological responding to affective stimuli. Psychophysiology, 61, e14446. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14446

Bareham, Corinne A., Oxner, M., Gastrell, Tim., & Carmel, David. (2021). Beyond the neural correlates of consciousness: using brain stimulation to elucidate causal mechanisms underlying conscious states and contents, Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 51(1), 143-170, DOI: 10.1080/03036758.2020.1840405

Under Review

Gastrell, T., Oxner, M., Schumann, F., & Carmel, D. (2024). Fixation versus periphery in visual awareness: Differential effects of recent perceptual experience. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/2qn9x

Conference Presentations

Gastrell, T., Rangelov, D., & Mattingley, J. B. (2024, November). Perceptual judgements of noisy visual motion signals are biased by high-precision priors [Poster presentation]. Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Newcastle, Australia.

Grimshaw, G., Maymon, C., Schulde, J., Tjiptono, D., Gastrell, T., Jones, M., & Carmel, D. (2024, October). (Mostly) failing to capture the effects of fear on cognition in virtual reality [Poster presentation]. Society of Psychophysiological Research, Prague, Czech Republic.

Gastrell, T., Oxner, M., & Carmel, D. (2023, July). Precision weighted inference in bistable perception? [Poster presentation]. Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, New York, NY, United States.

Schulde, J., Maymon, C., Gastrell, T., Carmel, D., & Grimshaw, G. (2023, November). Effects of fear on proactive and reactive control: An investigation using the AX-continuous performance task in virtual reality [Poster presentation]. Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Sydney, Australia.

Eisenbarth, H., Heesterman, C., Gastrell, T., & Xue, B. (2019, September). Systematic testing of machine learning algorithms predicting subjective arousal and valence ratings from psychophysiological activity [Poster presentation]. Society for Psychophysiological Research, Washington, DC, United States.

Gastrell, T., Oxner, M., & Carmel, D. (2023, November). Precision weighted inference in bistable perception? [Talk presentation]. Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Sydney, Australia.

Grimshaw, G., Jones, M., Maymon, C., Pelham, L., Richards, J., Gastrell, T., & Carmel, D. (2023, November). Attentional control in a frightful state [Talk presentation]. Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Sydney, Australia.

Gastrell, T., Oxner, M., & Carmel, D. (2023, February). Is predictive processing involved in priming of visual awareness across the visual field? [Talk presentation]. Israeli Society for Cognitive Psychology, Jerusalem, Israel.

Gastrell, T., Oxner, M., & Carmel, D. (2021, November). Investigating predictive processing and retinotopic influences in ambiguous perception [Talk presentation]. Kiwi Cognition and Memory Conference, Online.

Eisenbarth, H., Heesterman, C., Gastrell, T., & Xue, B. (2020, October). Prediction of valence and arousal ratings by EEG and peripheral physiological data [Symposium talk]. Society for Psychophysiological Research, Online