Riitta Hari

My research centers on the role of timing in the healthy and diseased human brain. We follow brain's activation sequences with millisecond accuracy using nonivasive magnetoencephalography (MEG) that my colleagues and I have been developing over two decades. In addition to addressing timing during sensory and cognitive processing, often combined with behavioral measures, we have clarified the functional role of several brain rhythms, most recently the oscillatory drive from the motor cortex to the muscles. The latest studies, some of them in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), tackle the brain basis of acute and chronic pain. With a background in clinical neurophysiology, I have attempted to develop new tools for functional preoperative evaluation. My colleagues and I have also elucidated the neuronal origin of numerous electroencephalographic (EEG) signals, with the aim to promote their reliable clinical use. Presently, I am interested in shared motor and sensory representations between individuals: what happens in our brains when we see other persons acting and feeling? My dream would be to study brain basis of social interaction in real-time.