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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). Previously she was 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. Brain states and rhythms: regulating mechanisms, information encoding, neuromodulation.Using experimental and computational approach, with an interest in neurotechnology. The integration of the cortical information giving rise to bodily representation, combining brain activity and virtual reality for understanding these processes and VR medical applications.

Selected publications

– Rebollo, Telenczuk, Destexhe, Sanchez-Vives 2021, ‘Modulation of intercolumnar synchronization by endogenous electric fields in cerebral cortex‘, Science Advances, 7, 10, eabc7772

– Barbero-Castillo, Mateos-Aparicio, Dalla Porta, Camassa, Perez-Mendez & Sanchez-Vives 2021, ‘Impact of GABA(A) and GABA(B) Inhibition on Cortical Dynamics and Perturbational Complexity during Synchronous and Desynchronized States‘, Journal of Neuroscience, 41, 23, 5029.

– Nierula, Spanlang, Martini, Borrell, Nikulin & Sanchez‐Vives 2021, ‘Agency and responsibility over virtual movements controlled through different paradigms of brain− computer interface‘. The Journal of Physiology599(9), 2419

– Barbero-Castillo, Riefolo, Matera, Caldas-Martinez, Mateos-Aparicio, Weinert, Garrido-Charles,  Claro, Sanchez-Vives* & Gorostiza* 2021, ‘Control of Brain State Transitions with a Photoswitchable Muscarinic Agonist’, Advanced Science, 2005027

– Tort-Colet, Capone, Sanchez-Vives* and Mattia* 2021,’Attractor competition enriches cortical dynamics during awakening from anesthesia‘. Cell Reports, 35, 12, 109270

– Torao, Manasanch, Mattia & Sanchez-Vives 2021, ‘Up and Down states during slow oscillations in slow wave sleep and different levels of anesthesia‘, Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 15, 609645

Sanchez-Vives, et al 2021, GABAB receptor-modulation of thalamocortical dynamics and synaptic plasticityNeuroscience, 456: 131

– Camassa, Mattia & Sanchez-Vives 2021, Energy-Based Hierarchical Clustering of Cortical Slow Waves in Multi-Electrode Recordings. 43rd Annual Intl Conf IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Soc (EMBC) (pp. 198-203)


Selected research activities

– Director of 2 PhD and 2 Master Theses.

– 3 Keynote talks, 6 invited conference talks, 8 Seminars/Webinars, 2 Workshop organization, 2 Panel chair, 8 posters.

– Dissemination: online events (Cineforum Biennal Ciutat i Ciència), articles (Investigacion y Ciencia, La Vanguardia, Knowable, Der Spiegel); TV (El cazador de cerebros), radio.

ICREA Memoir 2021