Dr. Roger Koenig is a Senior Research Associate with a multidisciplinary background in neuroscience spanning human and animal models, from cellular to systems neuroscience and experimental psychology.
Roger is an expert in neuroimaging and uses machine-learning tools to decode mental content. He uses these tools to tackle questions ranging from consciousness and decision-making to how our expectations shape our thoughts and perception. His experience in the field of brain decoding has forged a unique research interest in the societal impacts of using such technology, particularly in the area of cognitive liberty and the right to mental privacy.
Roger was born in Chile, a country leading the Neuro Protection agenda, which materialised when it became the first country to protect personal brain data by law.
Roger specialises in developing innovative experimental paradigms to tackle big cognitive neuroscience questions, including how visual thoughts emerge and are controlled, what are the neural underpinnings of visual mental imagery, and whether free will (or the lack thereof) can be objectively measured.
Roger has received funding from the Chilean National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research, The Australian Academy of Science and French Government, and Monash University Biomedical Imaging Grants. He has published his research in numerous prestigious journals such as eLife, Plos Biology, Psychological Science and Neuroimage, among others.
Roger has supervised and co-supervised PhD (2, one now a post-doctoral researcher at UniSC and one at a neuro start-up in Tel-Aviv) and Honours (7, most of them completing their PhD afterwards) students. He has given guest lectures at Monash University and UTS.