Dr Daniel Bor

Profile

After completing my first degree in philosophy and psychology in 1997 at Oxford University, I moved to Cambridge University in 1998 for my PhD in cognitive neuroscience, at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, under the supervision of Adrian Owen and John Duncan.  Following my PhD, I stayed on as a research fellow, until early 2010, when I moved to the Sussex Centre For Consciousness Science, at the University of Sussex. From 2017, I returned to Cambridge, this time to carry out research at the department of  at the Department of Psychology in the University of Cambridge, as a principal investigator (PI) with a Wellcome Trust Fellowship.

In 2021 I moved to QMUL as a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor equivalent), although I’m still a visiting research scientist at Cambridge University, where I’m a PI in the Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab.

Currently my lab asks clinical questions about how the brain confers resilience in ageing and dementia, and how we can use novel brain-scanning techniques for early dementia diagnosis. In addition we explore how novel information theory methods can shed new light on the neural basis of consciousness and cognition.

Over my career, I've explored the neuroscience of a wide range of cognitive topics, including working memory, attention, IQ, synaesthesia, cognitive abilities in autism spectrum.

Throughout my career, I’ve been passionate about communicating science, whether in class to my undergraduate and graduate students, or to the wider public.  I have appeared on many radio programmes talking about my ideas. My work has appeared in various newspapers, magazines and online sites including Scientific American, New Scientist, Salon, Slate, Wired UK, the BBC and others. I also enjoy giving public talks, including for New Scientist Instant Experts, at the Royal Institution, the London Science Museum and the Mind Science Foundation in Texas (in their distinguished speaker series).

I have written a popular science book, The Ravenous Brain, about the cutting edge science of consciousness (published by Basic Books), which was chosen as a best book of 2012 in the Wall Street Journal, the Book of the Week at the Times Higher Education magazine, the September main selection at Scientific American Book Club.

I also co-wrote the 30 Second Brain (published by Icon Books).

Research

Publications

((See my Google Scholar profile for an up to date list))

Proca AM, Rosas FE, Luppi AI, Bor D, Crosby M, Mediano PAM (in press) Synergistic information supports modality integration and flexible learning in neural networks solving multiple tasks. arXiv preprint arXiv:221002996 (PLOS Computational Biology)

Sas MI., Mediano PAM., Rosas F, Leone H, Sas A, Lockwood C, Jensen HJ, Bor D. (2024). Synch.Live: Collective problem-solving through flocking motion induces higher connectedness to others. Psyarchiv (submitted to Psych. Bulletin)

Luppi AI, Pedro A.M. Mediano, Fernando E. Rosas, Judith Allanson, John D. Pickard, Robin L. Carhart-Harris, Guy B. Williams, Michael M Craig, Paola Finoia, Adrian M. Owen, Lorina Naci, David K. Menon, Daniel Bor, Emmanuel A. Stamatakis (2024) A Synergistic Workspace for Human Consciousness Revealed by Integrated Information Decomposition Elife, in press

Mediano PAM, Rosas FE, Luppi AI, Noreika V, Seth AK, Carhart-Harris RL, Barnett L, Bor D (2024) Spectrally and temporally resolved estimation of neural signal diversity. Elife, in press

Pedro A.M. Mediano, Fernando E. Rosas, Christopher Timmermann, Leor Roseman, David J. Nutt, Amanda Feilding, Mendel Kaelen, Morten L. Kringelbach, Adam B. Barrett, Anil K. Seth, Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, Daniel Bor, Robin L. Carhart-Harris (2024) Effects of external stimulation on psychedelic state neurodynamics ACS Chemical Neuroscience 15 (3), 462-471

Estarellas M, Huntley J,  Bor D (2023). Neural Markers Of Reduced Arousal And Consciousness In Mild Cognitive Impairment. bioRxiv, 2023.11. 06.565886 (under revision in International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry)

Rosas FE, Mediano PAM, Timmermann C, Luppi AI, Candia-Rivera D, Abbasi-Asl R, Gazzaley A, Kringelbach ML, Muthukumaraswamy S, Bor D, Garfinkel S, Carhart-Harris RL (2023) The entropic heart: Tracking the psychedelic state via heart rate dynamics. bioRxiv, 2023.11. 07.566008 (under review, Nature Human Behaviour)

Schwartzman DJ, Oblak A,  Rothen N, Bor D, Seth, AK (2023) Extensive Phenomenological Overlap between Induced and Naturally-Occurring Synaesthetic Experiences. Collabra: Psychology 9 (1), 73832

Luppi AI, Mediano PAM, Rosas FE, Allanson J, Pickard JD, Williams GB, Craig MM, Finoia P, Peattie ARD, Coppola P, Menon DK, Bor D, Stamatakis EA (2023) Reduced emergent character of neural dynamics in patients with a disrupted connectome. NeuroImage 269: 119926

Huntley J, Bor D, Deng F, Mancuso M, Mediano PAM, Naci L, Owen AM, Rocchi L, Sternin A, Howard R (2023) Assessing awareness in severe Alzheimer’s disease. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 16

Rajpal H, Mediano PAM, Rosas FE, Timmermann CB, Brugger S, Muthukumaraswamy S, Seth AK, Bor D, Carhart-Harris RL, Jensen HJ (2022) Psychedelics and schizophrenia: Distinct alterations to Bayesian inference. NeuroImage 263: 119624

Mediano PAM, Rosas FE, Luppi AI, Jensen HJ, Seth AK, Barrett AB, Carhart-Harris RL, Bor D (2022) Greater than the parts: a review of the information decomposition approach to causal emergence. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 380: 20210246

Mediano PAM, Rosas FE, Bor D, Seth AK, Barrett AB (2022) The strength of weak integrated information theory. Trends in cognitive sciences 26: 646-655

Luppi AI, Mediano PAM, Rosas FE, Allanson J, Pickard JD, Williams GB, Craig MM, Finoia P, Peattie ARD, Coppola P Owen AM, Naci L, Menon DK, Bor D, Stamatakis EA (2022) Whole-brain modelling identifies distinct but convergent paths to unconsciousness in anaesthesia and disorders of consciousness. Nature Communications Biology 5: 384

Pascovich C, Castro‐Zaballa S, Mediano PAM, Bor D, Canales‐Johnson A, Torterolo P, Bekinschtein TA (2022). Ketamine and sleep modulate neural complexity dynamics in cats. European J. Neuroscience. 55 (6) 1584-1600

Mediano PAM, Rosas FE, Farah JC, Shanahan M, Bor D, Barrett AB (2022) Integrated information as a common signature of dynamical and information-processing complexity. Chaos 32(1):013115.

Luppi AI, Pedro A.M. Mediano, Fernando E. Rosas, Negin Holland, Tim D. Fryer, John T. O’Brien, James B. Rowe, David K. Menon, Daniel Bor, Emmanuel A. Stamatakis (2022) A synergistic core for human brain evolution and cognition. Nature Neuroscience 25 (6), 771-782

Mediano PAM, Ikkala A, Kievit RA, Jagannathan SR, Varley TF, Stamatakis EA, Bekinschtein TA, Bor D (2021) Fluctuations in Neural Complexity During Wakefulness Relate To Conscious Level and Cognition. bioRxiv: 2021.09.23.461002 (Currently under revision in Current Biology)

Luppi AI, Mediano PAM, Rosas FE,  Harrison DJ,  Carhart-Harris RL, Bor D,  Stamatakis EA (2021) What it is like to be a bit: An Integrated Information Decomposition account of emergent mental phenomena. Neuroscience of Consciousness. 2 niab027

Mediano PAM, Rosas FE, Luppi AI, Carhart-Harris RL, Bor D, Seth AK; Barrett AB; (2021) Towards an extended taxonomy of information dynamics via Integrated Information Decomposition. arXiv:2109.13186

Huntley J, Fleming SM, Mograbi DC, Bor D, Naci L, Owen AM, Howard R (2021) Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease as a Disorder of Consciousness. Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions. 7 (1) e12203

Pedro A.M. Mediano, Fernando E. Rosas, Adam B. Barrett, Daniel Bor (2021) Decomposing spectral and phasic differences in non-linear features between datasets. Physical Review Letters 127 (12), 124101

Rosas FE, Mediano PAM, Jensen HJ, Seth AK, Barrett AB, Carhatt-Harris RL, Bor D (2020) Reconciling emergences: An information-theoretic approach to identify causal emergence in multivariate data. PLOS Computational Biology 16(12): e1008289. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008289

Schwartzman DJ, Bor D, Rothen N, Seth, AK (2019) Neurophenomenology of induced and natural synaesthesia. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 374(1787)

Bor D, Barrett AB, Schwartzman DJ, Seth AK (2018) Response to Ruby et al: On a ‘failed’ attempt to manipulate conscious perception with transcranial magnetic stimulation to prefrontal cortex. Consciousness and Cognition. 65. 334-41.

Rothen N, Schwartzman DJ, Bor D, Seth AK (2018) Coordinated neural, behavioral, and phenomenological changes in perceptual plasticity through overtraining of synesthetic associations. Neuropsychologia. 111, 151-62.

Fallon SJ, Bor D, Hampshire A, Barker RA, Owen AM (2017) Spatial structure normalises working memory performance in Parkinson’s disease. Cortex 96, 73-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2017.08.023

Bor D, Schwartzman DJ, Barrett AB, Seth AK (2017) Theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation to the prefrontal or parietal cortex does not impair metacognitive visual awareness. PLoS ONE 12(2): e0171793. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0171793

Huntley JD,  Hampshire A, Bor D, Owen AM, Howard RJ (2017) The importance of sustained attention in early Alzheimer’s disease. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 32.  860-7.

Huntley JD,  Hampshire A, Bor D, Owen AM, Howard RJ (2016) Adaptive working memory strategy training in early Alzheimer’s disease: randomised controlled trial. The British Journal of Psychiatry.  doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.116.182048, 1–6.

Gould van Praag CD, Garfinkel S, Ward J, Bor D, Seth AK (2016) Automaticity and localisation of concurrents predicts colour area activity in grapheme-colour synaesthesia. Neuropsychologia. 88, 5-14.

Gruszka A, Bor D, Barker RR, Necka E, Owen AM (2016) The role of executive processes in working memory deficits in Parkinson’s Disease. Polish Psychological Bulletin. 47(1), 123-130.

Bor D (2016). Advances in the Scientific Investigation of Consciousness. In Brain Function and Responsiveness in Disorders of Consciousness, Monti MM, Sannita WG ed, Switzerland: Springer, 13-24.

Bor D, Rothen N, Schwartzman DJ, Clayton S, Seth AK (2014). Adults Can Be Trained to Acquire Synesthetic Experiences. Nature: Scientific Reports. 4(7089).

Scott RB, Dienes Z, Barrett AB, Bor D, Seth AK (2014) Blind Insight: Metacognitive Discrimination Despite Chance Task Performance. Psychological Science. 25 (12), 2199-2208

Woolgar A, Bor D, Duncan J (2013) Global Increase in Task-related Fronto-parietal Activity after Focal Frontal Lobe Lesion. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 25(9). 1542-52

Rudebeck SR, Bor D, Ormond A, O’Reilly JX, Lee ACH (2012) A Potential Spatial Working Memory Training Task to Improve Both Episodic Memory and Fluid Intelligence. PLOS ONE 7(11): e50431. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050431

Bor D, Seth AK (2012) Consciousness and the prefrontal parietal network: Insights from attention, working memory and chunking. Frontiers in Psychology. 3(article 63). [Also published in Frontiers in Consciousness Research]

Woolgar A, Thompson R, Bor D, Duncan J (2011) Multi-voxel coding of stimuli, rules, and responses in human frontoparietal cortex. Neuroimage. 56(2). 744-752

Huntley JD, Bor D, Hampshire A, Owen AM, Howard R (2011) Working memory task performance and chunking in early Alzheimer’s disease. The British Journal of Psychiatry. 198(5). 398-403.

Billington J, Baron-Cohen S, Bor D (2008) Systemizing influences attention during the Navon task: An fMRI study. Neuropsychologia 46(2). 511-520

Bor D, Billington J, Baron-Cohen S (2008) Savant memory for digits in a case of synaesthesia and Asperger Syndrome is related to hyperactivity in the lateral prefrontal cortex. Neurocase 13(5-6). 311-319

Baron-Cohen S, Bor D, Billington J, Asher J, Wheelwright S, Ashwin C (2007). Savant memory in a man with colour-number synaesthesia and Asperger Syndrome. Journal of Consciousness Studies. 14(9-10). 237-251

Boly M, Coleman MR, Davis MH, Hampshire A, Bor D, Moonen G, Maquet PA, Pickard JD, Laureys S, Owen AM (2007). When thoughts become action: An fMRI paradigm to study volitional brain activity in non-communicative brain injured patients Neuroimage. 36(3): 979-992.

Bor D, Owen AM (2007). A Common Prefrontal-Parietal Network for Mnemonic and Mathematical Recoding Strategies within Working Memory Cerebral Cortex. 17: 778-786

Bor D, Owen AM (2007). Cognitive Training: Neural Correlates of Expert Skills Current Biology. 17(3): R95-R97.

Bor D, Owen AM (2006). Working memory: Linking Capacity with Selectivity Current Biology. 16(4): R136-R138.

Bor D, Duncan J, Lee ACH, Parr A, Owen AM (2006). Frontal lobe involvement in spatial span: Converging studies of normal and impaired function. Neuropsychologia. 44(2): 229-237.

Cusack R, Cumming N, Bor D, Norris D, Lyzenga J (2005). Automated Post-Hoc Noise Cancellation Tool for Audio
Recordings Acquired in an MRI Scanner. Human Brain Mapping. 24(4): 299-304.

Bor D, Cumming N, Scott CEL, Owen AM (2004). Prefrontal cortical involvement in verbal encoding strategies. European Journal of Neuroscience. 19: 3365-3370.

Bor D, Duncan J, Owen AM (2003). Encoding strategies dissociate prefrontal activity from working memory demand. Neuron. 37(2): 361-367.

Owen AM, Menon DK, Johnsrude IS, Bor D, Scott SK, Manly T, Williams EJ, Mummery C, Pickard JD (2002). Detecting Residual Cognitive Function in Persistent Vegetative State. Neurocase. 8(5): 394-403.

Bor D, Duncan J, Owen AM (2001). The Role of Spatial Configuration in Tests of Working Memory Explored with Functional Neuroimaging. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 42(3): 217-224.

Duncan J, Seitz RJ, Kolodny J, Bor D, Herzog H, Ahmed A, Newell FN, Emslie H (2000). A neural basis for general intelligence. Science 289(5478): 457-60.