María Victoria Sánchez-Vives

María Victoria Sánchez-Vives

Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer

Life & Medical Sciences

Mavi Sanchez-Vives, MD, PhD in Neurosciences, has been ICREA Research Professor at the Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer since 2008, where she leads the Systems Neuroscience group. She is also co-Director of the Event Lab (Experimental Virtual Environments in Neuroscience and Technology) and Adjunct Professor at the Dept. of Basic Psychology, University of Barcelona. She was previously Associate Professor of Physiology and Group Leader at the Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante (UMH-CSIC). She was postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University and at Yale University.


Research interests

Neuronal and network properties determining the emergent activity in the cerebral cortex. Spontaneous rhythmic neural activity: regulating mechanisms, information encoding, impact of activity upon the network. Using experimental and computational approach, with an interest in neurotechnology. The integration of the cortical information giving rise to bodily representation and the combination of brain activity and virtual reality for understanding these processes is another research line that we are pursuing.

Selected publications

– Castano-Prat et al. 2019, ‘Altered slow (< 1 Hz) and fast (beta and gamma) neocortical oscillations in the 3xTg-AD mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease under anesthesia‘, Neurobiology of Aging, 79:142

– Masvidal-Codina X et al. 2019, ‘High-resolution mapping of infraslow cortical brain activity enabled by graphene microtransistors‘, Nature Materials, 18, 3, 280

– Capone et al. 2019, ‘Slow Waves in Cortical Slices: How Spontaneous Activity is Shaped by Laminar Structure‘, Cerebral Cortex, 29, 1, 319 – 335

– D’Andola et al. 2019, ‘Control of cortical oscillatory frequency by a closed-loop system‘, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 16:7 

– Barbero-Castillo et al. 2019, ‘Cortical Network Complexity under Different Levels of Excitability Controlled by Electric Fields‘, Brain Stimulation 12(2): e97

– Bourdin et al. 2019, ‘Altered visual feedback from an embodied avatar unconsciously influences movement amplitude and muscle activity‘, Scientific Reports, 9, 19747

– Matamala-Gomez et al. 2019, ‘Decreasing pain ratings in chronic arm pain through changing a virtual body: different strategies for different pain types‘, Journal of Pain, 20: 685


Selected research activities

– Keynote speaker at Computational Neuroscience Society meeting (CNS 2019); “VR, body, self and other” IDC, Israel; “Intl conference on graphics and interaction”, Faro, Portugal.

– Invited talks at international events: Priscilla Mayden Lecture, Univ of Utah; Amazon, Seattle; 15th Granada Seminar;  VERE symposium: Computational Neuroscience Venice Summer School; Spanish Society of Pain meeting; VIBES workshop EPFL, Laussane.

– Workshop organizer & speaker on “Brain states”, Spanish Society of Neuroscience meeting.

– Dissemination: Frontiers Forum (102K views); IMPAKT festival, Utrecht; Cover of TELOS magazine; Retina LTD El Pais; Telefónica Gran Vía, Las Tablas, Zaragoza; interviews radio RNE; Catalunya Radio; El Pais Retina; El Mundo; CEJFE domestic violence day; Mobile World Congress talks, etc