IIT Gandhinagar
Dept. of Cognitive & Brain Sciences —
Conversations on mind, brain, and behavior — monthly, on the third Thursday.
Prof. Anindya Sinha
NIAS · TDU, Bangalore
Dr. Vignesh Muralidharan
IIT Jodhpur
Human behavior is far more than a set of isolated brain commands. It is an integrated process arising from a continuous dialogue between central neural circuits, peripheral physiological systems, and our physical interactions with the world. In this talk, I will present recent work from our lab exploring human action control through this triad of Brain, Body, and Embodiment.
First, looking at the Brain–Body axis, we demonstrate how proactive cognitive control extends beyond cortical networks to dynamically modulate autonomic heart-rate regulation. Second, focusing on Motor Control, we examine how transient neural oscillations could act as robust biomarkers to predict fine-grained force production, providing a foundation for more nuanced Brain–Computer Interfaces (BCIs). Finally, stepping into Embodiment, we leverage immersive Virtual Reality to show how naturalistic action completion and real-time embodied feedback actively reorganize brain dynamics. Together, these insights establish a scientific framework, demonstrating how cognitive circuits, peripheral physiological systems, and embodied interactions jointly coordinate human behavior.
Dr. Vignesh Muralidharan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering at IIT Jodhpur, where he leads the Muralilab of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience (MCCN Lab). Following a PhD in Computational Neuroscience at IIT Madras and postdoctoral training at the University of California San Diego, his research operates at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience, multimodal neuroimaging, non-invasive neuromodulation, and computational modeling. His laboratory investigates the neural dynamics of human action control, central-autonomic brain–heart interactions, and sensorimotor oscillations to pioneer brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) and novel clinical interventions for neurological disorders. A recipient of IIT Jodhpur's Institute Research Excellence Award and Distinguished Teacher Award, his work bridges fundamental physiology and engineering to decode how the brain orchestrates movement, self-control, and cognitive function.
The Cortex Lectures bring leading scientists in cognition, neuroscience, vision, multisensory perception, motor learning, language, and the philosophy of mind into conversation with our department. Talks are held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 3:30 PM, with the occasional exception based on speaker availability.
Speakers are chosen by a rotating committee of graduate students and faculty. We deliberately balance computational and experimental, human and animal, theoretical and applied. The result is a series where you might encounter a single-cell electrophysiologist and a Bayesian modeler at the same coffee table afterward — which is exactly the point.
Talks are held in-person at IIT Gandhinagar and are open to the wider academic community across India in hybrid format. Registration for online attendance is limited to Indian academic and research institutions (.ac.in, .edu.in, .res.in). Recordings are archived, with speaker permission, and made available afterward. We welcome speaker suggestions from anyone in our community.
Suggest a Speaker ↗The Cortex Lectures are open in hybrid format to the academic community across India. Register once with your institutional email and receive the recurring Zoom link, monthly announcements, and reminders before each talk.
Register for Hybrid Attendance ↗