Aya Khalaf
Associate Research ScientistAbout
Research
Publications
2025
Distinct spike‐and‐wave EEG profiles reveal susceptibility to fleeting/almost loss of consciousness (so‐called blips) in generalized epilepsy
Matringe E, Khalaf A, Granchamp R, Vidal J, Perrone‐Bertolotti M, Blumenfeld H, Vercueil L. Distinct spike‐and‐wave EEG profiles reveal susceptibility to fleeting/almost loss of consciousness (so‐called blips) in generalized epilepsy. Epilepsia 2025, 66: 4465-4475. PMID: 40736396, PMCID: PMC12661269, DOI: 10.1111/epi.18557.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchFilter bank common spatial pattern and envelope-based features in multimodal EEG-fTCD brain-computer interfaces
Essam A, Ibrahim A, Al-Nasr A, El-Saqa M, Mohamed S, Anwar A, Eldeib A, Akcakaya M, Khalaf A. Filter bank common spatial pattern and envelope-based features in multimodal EEG-fTCD brain-computer interfaces. PLOS ONE 2025, 20: e0311075. PMID: 40403087, PMCID: PMC12097611, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311075.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsFilter Bank Common Spatial PatternBrain-computer interfaceMultimodal brain-computer interfaceCommon Spatial PatternClassification accuracyEEG-fNIRS brain-computer interfaceMI paradigmMotor imageryPerformance of brain-computer interfacesImproving classification performanceBayesian fusion frameworkBinary classification problemTime series featuresUser intentionClassification problemFusion frameworkClassification performanceBrain-computerAccuracy improvementAssistive technologySystem performanceImagery tasksAccuracyAnalysis approachAdvanced analysis approachesAdversarial testing of global neuronal workspace and integrated information theories of consciousness
Ferrante O, Gorska-Klimowska U, Henin S, Hirschhorn R, Khalaf A, Lepauvre A, Liu L, Richter D, Vidal Y, Bonacchi N, Brown T, Sripad P, Armendariz M, Bendtz K, Ghafari T, Hetenyi D, Jeschke J, Kozma C, Mazumder D, Montenegro S, Seedat A, Sharafeldin A, Yang S, Baillet S, Chalmers D, Cichy R, Fallon F, Panagiotaropoulos T, Blumenfeld H, de Lange F, Devore S, Jensen O, Kreiman G, Luo H, Boly M, Dehaene S, Koch C, Tononi G, Pitts M, Mudrik L, Melloni L. Adversarial testing of global neuronal workspace and integrated information theories of consciousness. Nature 2025, 642: 133-142. PMID: 40307561, PMCID: PMC12137136, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08888-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsFunctional magnetic resonance imagingInferior frontal cortexLateral temporal cortexGlobal neuronal workspaceEarly visual areasPrefrontal cortexCognitive neuroscienceFrontal cortexTemporal cortexNeuronal workspaceConsciousness dimensionsTheory of consciousnessAdversarial collaborationConscious contentsNeural activityStimulus offsetCortexPosterior cortexStimulus durationHuman participantsVisual areasDivergent predictionsMagnetic resonance imagingTheory-DrivenStimuliShared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention
Khalaf A, Lopez E, Li J, Horn A, Edlow B, Blumenfeld H. Shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention. NeuroImage 2025, 312: 121224. PMID: 40250641, PMCID: PMC12351731, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121224.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSubcortical arousal systemsArousal systemSensory modalitiesEvent-related fMRI paradigmModulation of visual attentionModulation of attentionFMRI paradigmConscious awarenessPerception taskPerceptual modalitiesCentral thalamusMidbrain reticular formationBasal forebrainBasal gangliaVisual attentionSubcortical targetsFMRI datasetsTherapeutic neuromodulationTransient modulationReticular formationSustained changesAttentionForebrainThalamusHypothalamusThe neural activity of auditory conscious perception
Christison-Lagay K, Khalaf A, Freedman N, Micek C, Kronemer S, Gusso M, Kim L, Forman S, Ding J, Aksen M, Abdel-Aty A, Kwon H, Markowitz N, Yeagle E, Espinal E, Herrero J, Bickel S, Young J, Mehta A, Wu K, Gerrard J, Damisah E, Spencer D, Blumenfeld H. The neural activity of auditory conscious perception. NeuroImage 2025, 308: 121041. PMID: 39832539, PMCID: PMC12020874, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121041.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConscious perceptionPerceived trialsRight caudal middle frontal gyrusCaudal middle frontal gyrusAuditory regionsMiddle frontal gyrusAuditory association regionsBroadband gamma powerEarly auditory regionsFrontal gyrusFrontal cortexSubcortical networksGamma powerAuditory domainNeural activityThreshold taskPerceptual consciousnessSensory modalitiesAssociation regionsVisual paradigmAuditory perceptionWaves of activity
2023
An adversarial collaboration protocol for testing contrasting predictions of global neuronal workspace and integrated information theory
Melloni L, Mudrik L, Pitts M, Bendtz K, Ferrante O, Gorska U, Hirschhorn R, Khalaf A, Kozma C, Lepauvre A, Liu L, Mazumder D, Richter D, Zhou H, Blumenfeld H, Boly M, Chalmers D, Devore S, Fallon F, de Lange F, Jensen O, Kreiman G, Luo H, Panagiotaropoulos T, Dehaene S, Koch C, Tononi G. An adversarial collaboration protocol for testing contrasting predictions of global neuronal workspace and integrated information theory. PLOS ONE 2023, 18: e0268577. PMID: 36763595, PMCID: PMC9916582, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268577.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsFunctional magnetic resonance imagingGlobal neuronal workspaceConscious visual perceptionIntracranial electroencephalographyVisual consciousnessVisual perceptionConscious experienceBrain activityIntegrated Information TheoryMajor theoriesAdversarial collaborationHuman brainDifferent accountsOpen science practicesStudy protocolMagnetic resonance imagingConsciousnessInformation theoryTheory proponentsTheoryPerceptionResonance imagingElectroencephalographyCorrelatesRelationship
2022
Human visual consciousness involves large scale cortical and subcortical networks independent of task report and eye movement activity
Kronemer S, Aksen M, Ding J, Ryu J, Xin Q, Ding Z, Prince J, Kwon H, Khalaf A, Forman S, Jin D, Wang K, Chen K, Hu C, Agarwal A, Saberski E, Wafa S, Morgan O, Wu J, Christison-Lagay K, Hasulak N, Morrell M, Urban A, Todd Constable R, Pitts M, Mark Richardson R, Crowley M, Blumenfeld H. Human visual consciousness involves large scale cortical and subcortical networks independent of task report and eye movement activity. Nature Communications 2022, 13: 7342. PMID: 36446792, PMCID: PMC9707162, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35117-4.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSubcortical networksConscious visual perceptionVisual perception taskNeurophysiology of consciousnessExecutive control networkMajor brain networksDefault mode networkFrontal eye fieldOvert reportPerception taskVisual consciousnessConscious perceptionFusiform cortexVisual perceptionAnterior insulaConscious experienceSalience networkBrain networksMode networkAnterior cingulateEye fieldTask reportControl networkFMRI changesNeural circuitsA machine‐learning approach for predicting impaired consciousness in absence epilepsy
Springer M, Khalaf A, Vincent P, Ryu JH, Abukhadra Y, Beniczky S, Glauser T, Krestel H, Blumenfeld H. A machine‐learning approach for predicting impaired consciousness in absence epilepsy. Annals Of Clinical And Translational Neurology 2022, 9: 1538-1550. PMID: 36114696, PMCID: PMC9539371, DOI: 10.1002/acn3.51647.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchEarly neural activity changes associated with stimulus detection during visual conscious perception
Khalaf A, Kronemer SI, Christison-Lagay K, Kwon H, Li J, Wu K, Blumenfeld H. Early neural activity changes associated with stimulus detection during visual conscious perception. Cerebral Cortex 2022, 33: 1347-1360. PMID: 35446937, DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac140.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsVisual conscious perceptionNeural activity changesConscious perceptionStimulus detectionContinuous performance taskCortical neural signalsGamma power increaseGamma power changesMedial occipital cortexMedial temporal cortexParietal-temporal cortexTarget letterNontarget stimuliPerformance taskVisual stimuliStimulus onsetPopulation neural activityBroadband gamma powerNeural activityTemporal cortexGamma powerActivity changesMotor responsePremotor areasOccipital cortex
2021
Early cortical signals in visual stimulus detection
Kwon H, Kronemer SI, Christison-Lagay KL, Khalaf A, Li J, Ding JZ, Freedman NC, Blumenfeld H. Early cortical signals in visual stimulus detection. NeuroImage 2021, 244: 118608. PMID: 34560270, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118608.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsConscious perceptionStimulus onsetLeft hemisphere language areasVisual conscious perceptionWord recall taskBilateral medial temporal corticesVerbal memory taskConscious visual perceptionLeft rostral middle frontal gyrusHemisphere language areasVisual stimulus detectionMiddle frontal gyrusGamma power increaseGamma power changesDefault mode networkMedial temporal regionsBroadband gamma activityNeural activity changesMedial temporal cortexRight frontal cortexSignal detection networkMultiple cortical regionsRostral middle frontal gyrusMemory taskRecall task
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