New Professor Jan Kujala brings advances to brain imaging analysis

Professor Jan Kujala, who took up his new position at the beginning of February, has been working as an assistant professor at the University of Jyväskylä since 2019, focusing his research on the use of advanced analytical methods in various data measured by magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Different brain imaging methods are a key tool in neuropsychological studies. Among other things, imaging techniques can be used to study brain function and the links between different neural processes and behaviour. For example, it can help to identify which brain areas are critical for different functions and how interactions between brain areas support cognitive processes.

Improving signal processing and analysis methods will both improve the accuracy and reliability of measurements and enable the identification of new connections and phenomena.

"My research aims to understand how local and inter-brain neural processes support human cognitive functions. My research involves developing different signal processing and analysis methods, which I then apply to brain imaging data collected from both healthy and patient groups. Together, these two areas allow us to determine the links between different neural processes and human behaviour," Kujala says.

Getting more out of data with new analytical methods

A more holistic analysis of imaging data, combining different methods, has proved to be a fruitful way of looking at brain imaging data in Kujala's research.

"However, it is still unclear how different neural processes together underpin human behaviour. I plan to explore this problem further by combining measurements of brain activity and connectivity with computational models. The aim is to find out how these factors combine to influence behaviour and, for example, different brain diseases," says Kujala.

One important goal in this area is to advance early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases by using machine learning to analyse large-scale brain imaging data.

Jan Kujala received his PhD in engineering from the Helsinki University of Technology in 2008 and before that he graduated as a graduate engineer in engineering physics in 2001.

Before joining the University of Jyväskylä, he worked as a researcher at the Helsinki University of Technology and later at Aalto University.