Simon Faghel-Soubeyrand
Banting Fellow | University of Oxford
Cognitive neuroscientist at the intersection of human memory, sleep and perception
news
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Our team received a £1.6M UKRI BBSRC grant on AI, neuroimaging, and sleep-driven memory consolidation.
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Awarded the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship.
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New preprint: Sleep strengthens successor representations of learned sequences. Read it here.
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Our lab presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society conference in Boston.
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New preprint on sleep's role in episodic memory transformation. Read it here.
research
My current work uses computational modelling of behavioural and brain-imaging data to uncover how memories are transformed, and how sleep shapes these transformations.
sleep and episodic memory reorganisation
How does deep sleep reshape our memories? Our new study shows that slow-wave sleep (SWS) reorganises episodic memory networks, shifting recall from the parietal cortex to the anterior temporal lobe (ATL).
individual differences in visual-semantic brain representations
We explore how inter-individual differences in visual (face) cognition relate to visual and semantic representations in the brain, combining EEG decoding, behavioural metrics and representations in vision and language computational models.
visual content behind face representations
This line of work maps the content of visual representations across different face recognition tasks using "reverse correlation" psychophysical techniques.
spatiotemporal fusion of EEG and fMRI
By combining EEG and fMRI, we uncover the spatiotemporal code the brain uses to represent visual objects. This fusion approach captures the millisecond-level dynamics underlying high-level visual processing.
ongoing projects
A day in the life of a memory
multimodal EEG-fMRI dataset | sleep-dependent memory transformation | Oxford- Question
- How are episodic memory representations transformed as newly learned events are consolidated during sleep?
- Methods
- Behavioural recall, EEG-fMRI, representational modelling, and computational analyses of memory content.
- Status
- Ongoing at the University of Oxford.
Verbal recall and representational format
episodic memory | behavioural | LLM-based text analysis | at-home sleep EEG | Oxford- Question
- How does sleep change the representational format of recalled episodic memories?
- Methods
- Verbal recall, large language models to extract representational structure, and at-home Zmax Lite EEG sleep recordings.
- Status
- In preparation.
publications
- He X, Büchel PK, , Klingspohr J, Kehl MS, Staresina BP (2026). Sleep strengthens successor representations of learned sequences in humans. PLOS Biology, 24(4), e3003740. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003740
- , Perzich P, Staresina BP (2025). Slow wave sleep is associated with a reorganisation of episodic memory networks. Neuropsychologia. Special Issue: sleep, memory and emotion
- , Ramon M, Bamps E, Zoia M, Woodhams J, Richoz A-R, Caldara R, Gosselin F, Charest I (2024). Decoding face recognition abilities in the human brain. PNAS Nexus.
- , Richoz A-R, Waeber D, Woodhams J, Gosselin F, Caldara R, Charest I (2024). Neural computations in prosopagnosia. Cerebral Cortex.
- Brotherwood P, , Van Den Bosch J, Charest I (2023). Characterising the spatiotemporal profiles of neural object representations using implicit and explicit similarity judgement tasks. Cognitive Computational Neuroscience.
- Hadid V, MacLean M, Grand-Maitre C, Dandrimont J, Higgins M, , Lepore F (2023). Early processing of unattended emotional faces increases the brain response to attended emotional expressions: an SSVEP study. 18th International Symposium on Medical Information Processing and Analysis.
- , Kloess JA, Gosselin F, Charest I, Woodhams J (2021). Diagnostic features for human categorisation of adult and child faces. Frontiers in Psychology.
- , Lecomte T, Bravo MA, Lepage M, Potvin S, Abdel-Baki A, Villeneuve M, Gosselin F (2020). Abnormal visual representations associated with confusion of perceived facial expression in schizophrenia with social anxiety disorder. Schizophrenia.
- , Alink A, Bamps E, Gosselin F, Charest I (2019). Visual representations supporting category-specific information about visual objects in the brain. Cognitive Computational Neuroscience, Berlin. Conference paper.
- , Dupuis-Roy N, Gosselin F (2019). Inducing the use of right-eye enhances face-sex categorization performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
- Dupuis-Roy N, , Gosselin F (2018). Time course of the use of chromatic and achromatic facial information for sex categorization. Vision Research.
- Gosselin F*, (2017). Stationary objects flashed periodically appear to move during smooth pursuit eye movement. Perception, 46(7), 874-881.
teaching
My teaching spans undergraduate and graduate levels in cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and quantitative methods. I have taught theoretical and practical material on memory, sleep, brain imaging, experimental design, data analysis, and programming (Python, Matlab), with an emphasis on helping students think critically about empirical research.
University of Oxford
Lecturer and Tutor
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology, LMH Summer School
2026
Demonstrator
Decoding the Mind, advanced labs
2023, 2024, 2025
Université de Montréal
Lecturer
Programming in Cognitive Neuroscience (PSY2038/6976)
2020-2021
Lecturer
Visual Cognition Laboratory (PSY2007)
2019
Teaching Assistant
Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology (PSY1048); Neuroscience of Cognition and Behaviour (PSY1049); Visual Cognition Laboratory (PSY2007)
2015-2018
about me
human memory | vision | sleep | EEG | Intracranial EEG | fMRI | deep learning
My research examines how the content of perception and experience shapes human behaviour, with a focus on visual recognition, episodic memory, and sleep-dependent memory transformation.
I combine behavioural experiments, EEG, fMRI, EEG-fMRI fusion, intracranial recordings, and machine learning to characterise how visual, semantic, and mnemonic representations are supported by the brain.
During my postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford, in the Staresina Lab, I study the neural code of episodic memories as they are transformed during sleep.
I was funded by a Newton International Fellowship from The Royal Society (2023-2025). I am currently a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, and a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College.
honours and awards
- 2025
- Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) — 140,000 $
- 2024
- Junior Research Fellowship, Wolfson College, University of Oxford — ~£10,000
- 2023
- Newton International Fellowship, The Royal Society — £149,121
- Academic Excellence Certificate for Ph.D thesis, Canadian Psychological Association
- 2022
- Best oral presentation in Health and Artificial Intelligence, CHUM — 1,000 $
- J.A. DeSeve Excellence Scholarship, University of Montreal — 8,000 $
- Neuro-AI Excellence Scholarship, UNIQUE Centre — 15,000 $
- 2021
- UNIQUE-IVADO Best Graduate Abstract Award, MAIN — 400 $
- Desjardins Foundation Scholarship — 5,000 $
- IVADO PhD Excellence Scholarship — 75,000 $
- V-VSS 2021 Elsevier/Vision Research Travel Award, Vision Science Society
- 2020
- University of Montreal's Google Doctoral Scholarship — 20,000 $
- AI Studies Scholarship, University of Montreal — 10,000 $
- Research Training Scholarship, Mitacs & Études Supérieures — 6,000 $
- 2019
- MEES Mobility Scholarship — 3,000 $
- FESP Prize for Best Oral Presentation, University of Montreal — 350 $
- 2018
- Quebec Bio-Imaging Network Scholarship — 4,000 $
- Mitacs Globalink Internship Abroad — 6,000 $
- Honorary Dean’s List, University of Montreal