Michel Failing, PhD

Michel Failing, PhD

Alexander von Humboldt Fellow

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Short Bio

I am a postdoctoral researcher currently working with Prof. Philipp Sterzer at the Charité - Unversitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
My research interests are attention, learning, memory and perceptual decision-making and I study these topics using various techniques such as behavioral, eye-tracking, electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
In my free time, I love to travel, game, and cook !

Interests

  • Attention
  • Learning
  • Memory
  • Perceptual decision-making

Education

  • PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, 2017

    Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

  • MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience, 2012

    Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen / Donders Institute

  • BA in Psychology, 2010

    Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen

News & Blog

Book chapter published in Cambridge Elements in Perception !

Our recent manuscript titled “Attentional Selection: Top-Down, Bottom-Up and History-Based Biases” has just been published as part of the Cambridge Series “Elements in Perception”! In this element, we propose a framework in which it is assumed that visual selection is the result of the interaction between top-down, bottom-up and selection-history factors.
Book chapter published in Cambridge Elements in Perception !

Manuscript accepted as book chapter for publication in Cambridge Elements in Perception !

Our recent manuscript titled “Attentional Selection: Top-Down, Bottom-Up and History-Based Biases” has been accepted as a book chapter in the upcoming Cambridge Elements in Perception. In this element, we propose a framework in which it is assumed that visual selection is the result of the interaction between top-down, bottom-up and selection-history factors.
Manuscript accepted as book chapter for publication in Cambridge Elements in Perception !

Manuscript accepted for publication in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review !

Our recent paper on spatial distractor suppression just got accepted for publication in the Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. In this paper, we show that the extent to which salient distractors elicit spatial attention capture also affects the amount of spatial suppression they exhibit due to statistical regularities regarding the distractor’s location.
Manuscript accepted for publication in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review !

Projects

Attention

Attention is the fundamental mechanism that determines what information we parse from the environment.

Reward

Reward selectively affects the way we pay attention and thus how we perceive the world around us.

Selection History

Selection history describes the phenomenon that what we have attended in the past will determine what we pay attention to in the present.

Recent Publications

Attentional Selection: Top-Down, Bottom-Up and History-Based Biases (Elements in Perception)

Salient yet irrelevant objects often interfere with daily tasks by capturing attention against our best interests and intentions. …

More capture, more suppression: Distractor suppression due to statistical regularities is determined by the magnitude of attentional capture

Salient yet irrelevant objects often interfere with daily tasks by capturing attention against our best interests and intentions. …

Statistical regularities induce spatial as well as feature-specific suppression

We are constantly extracting regularities from the visual environment to optimize attentional orienting. Here we examine the phenomenon …

Experience

 
 
 
 
 

Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral fellow

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

2019 – Present Berlin, Germany
 
 
 
 
 

Postdoctoral researcher

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

2016 – 2019 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
 
 
 
 
 

Visiting researcher

University of Chicago

2016 – 2016 Chicago, IL, USA

Grants and Awards

Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship

Two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Charité - University Medical Centre Berlin, Germany

Maria Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Seal of Excellence

EU quality label for first-class innovative ideas worthy of investment awarded for MSCA individual fellowship call (top 10% of all proposals)

Talent grant

Four-month visiting researcher fellowship for the University of Chicago, IL, USA

Travel Award

Travel Award

Contact

  • Rahel-Hirsch Weg 5
    10117 Berlin
  • Office hours:
    Mo-Fr - 10.00-18.00