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Lines of investigation
Our laboratory’s research interests are focused mainly on the design principles that govern the structure and function of neural circuits, how these circuits integrate information efficiently and how this information is used to form judgments and make decisions.
We combine an empirical approach with modelling to investigate a broad range of phenomena: from the tradeoff between accuracy and energy consumption in the early sensory pathways to the processes by which reasoning, intuition and affective social factors influence beliefs, judgments and choices.
Our ultimate goal is to find canonical principles by which the brain processes information of any kind and ways to use these principles to guide the development of novel information and communication technologies and a new generation of robots and automatas (self-driving cars, space travel-long distant communication, drones, etc.) capable of making human-like decisions in complex scenarios.
Representative Publications
- A Retino-retinal Projection Guided by Unc5c Emerged in Species with Retinal Waves Murcia-Belmonte V, Coca Y, Vegar C, Negueruela S, de Juan Romero C, Valiño AJ, Sala S, DaSilva R, Kania A, Borrell V, Martinez LM, Erskine L, Herrera E Current Biology 2019 29(7):1149 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.052
- How Inhibitory Circuits in the Thalamus Serve Vision Hirsch JA, Wang X, Sommer FT, Martinez LM Annu Rev Neurosci 2015 38:309 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-071013-014229
- Statistical Wiring of Thalamic Receptive Fields Optimizes Spatial Sampling of the Retinal Image Martinez LM, Molano-Mazon M, Wang X, Sommer FT, Hirsch JA Neuron 2014 81(4):943 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.12.014
- Contact repulsion controls the dispersion and final distribution of Cajal-Retzius cells Villar-Cerviño V, Molano-Mazon M, Catchpole T, Valdeolmillos M, Henkemeyer M, Martinez LM, Borrell V, Marin O Neuron 2013 77(3):457 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.11.023
- Archaeologiques of sight: The visual world fosters the engagement between doing, seeing, and thinking. Felipe Criado-Boado, Luis M. Martínez, Manuel J. Blanco, Diego Alonso-Pablos, Jadranka Verdonkschot Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 2024 73: 101568 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101568
- Gazed Pottery: an Archaeometric-Cognitive Approach to Material Culture Visuality. Felipe Criado-Boado, Luis M. Martínez, Manuel J. Blanco, Diego Alonso-Pablos, Yolanda Porto, Elena del Barrio-Álvarez Journal of Archaeological Science. 2023 154: 105770 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105770
- Frequency-domain analysis of fNIRS fluctuations induced by rhythmic mental arithmetic. Molina-Rodríguez, S., Mirete-Fructuoso, M., Martínez, L.M., Ibañez-Ballesteros, J. Psychophysiology. 2022 59 (10): e14063 https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14063
- Materialities, Space, Mind: archaeology of visual cognition Millan-Pascual R, Martinez LM, Alonso-Pablos D, Blanco MJ, Criado-Boado F Trabajos de Prehistoria 2021 78(1):7 https://doi.org/10.3989/tp.2021.12262
- Subclinical social anxiety in healthy young adults: Cortisol and subjective anxiety in response to acute stress Mirete M, Molina S, Villada C, Hidalgo V, Salvadoir A An Psicol-Spain 2021 37(3):432 https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.483411
- The Acquisition of Culturally Patterned Attention Styles Under Active Inference Constant A, Tschantz ADD, Millidge B, Criado-Boado F, Martinez LM, Müeller J, Clark A Front Neurorobot 2021 15:729665 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbot.2021.729665
- A Retino-retinal Projection Guided by Unc5c Emerged in Species with Retinal Waves Murcia-Belmonte V, Coca Y, Vegar C, Negueruela S, de Juan Romero C, Valiño AJ, Sala S, DaSilva R, Kania A, Borrell V, Martinez LM, Erskine L, Herrera E Current Biology 2019 29(7):1149 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.052
- Coevolution of visual behaviour, the material world and social complexity, depicted by the eye-tracking of archaeological objects in humans Criado-Boado F, Alonso-Pablos D, Blanco MJ, Porto Y, Rodríguez-Paz A, Cabrejas E, Del Barrio-Álvarez E, Martínez LM Scientifc Reports 2019 9(1):3985 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-39661-w
- Image Sharpness and Contrast Tuning in the Early Visual Pathway Sanchez E, Ferreiroa R, Arias A, Martinez LM Int J Neural Syst 2017 27(8):1750045 https://doi.org/10.1142/S0129065717500459
- Understanding the Role of Mitochondria Distribution in Calcium Dynamics and Secretion in Bovine Chromaffin Cells Gil, Amparo; Gonzalez-Velez, Virginia; Villanueva, Jose; Gutierrez, Luis M. Modeling Cellular Systems 2017 11:107 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45833-5_5
- How Inhibitory Circuits in the Thalamus Serve Vision Hirsch JA, Wang X, Sommer FT, Martinez LM Annu Rev Neurosci 2015 38:309 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-071013-014229
- Brain and art. Segev I, Martinez LM, Zatorre RJ Front Hum Neurosci 2014 8:465 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00465
- Flowers and weeds: cell-type specific pruning in the developing visual thalamus Benjumeda I, Molano-Mazon M, Martinez LM BMC Biol 2014 12:10 https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7007-12-3
- Statistical Wiring of Thalamic Receptive Fields Optimizes Spatial Sampling of the Retinal Image Martinez LM, Molano-Mazon M, Wang X, Sommer FT, Hirsch JA Neuron 2014 81(4):943 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.12.014
- Choosing in Freedom or Forced to Choose? Introspective Blindness to Psychological Forcing in Stage-Magic Shalom DE, Serro MGD, Giaconia M, Martinez LM, Rieznik A, Sigman M PLoS One 2013 8(3):e58254 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0058254
- Contact repulsion controls the dispersion and final distribution of Cajal-Retzius cells Villar-Cerviño V, Molano-Mazon M, Catchpole T, Valdeolmillos M, Henkemeyer M, Martinez LM, Borrell V, Marin O Neuron 2013 77(3):457 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.11.023
- Misdirection – past, present, and the future Kuhn G, Martinez LM Front Hum Neurosci 2012 5:172 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2011.00172
- A new angle on the role of feedfoward inputs in the generation of orientation selectivity in primary visual cortex Martinez LM J Physiol-London 2011 589(12):2921 https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.209031
