Dr Aline Bompas
(she/her)

Reader, Director of Research

: Available for postgraduate supervision

Research summary

My research focuses mainly on visuo-motor decisions, such as rapidly responding with eye or hand movements to changes in visual signals. My aim is to uncover how the human brain takes these rapid decisions, and for this I rely on sophisticated analysis of behaviour, computational modelling of decision and electrophysiology (EEG, MEG). I apply this research to better understand fluctuations in performance within individuals, as well as individual differences in the healthy population and clinical conditions such Alzheimer’s disease. My interest for intrisic variability in human performance extends to topics such as metacognition, depression, impulsivity or ADHD. I am affiliated to CUBRIC, the Cardiff University brain imaging centre, and part of the Cognitive Neuroscience group.

Date
Type

2024

Bompas, A., Sumner, P. and Hedge, C. 2024. Non-decision time: the Higgs Boson of decision. Psychological Review (10.1037/rev0000487)

2023

Perquin, M. N., van Vugt, M. K., Hedge, C. and Bompas, A. 2023. Temporal structure in sensorimotor variability: a stable trait, but what for?. Computational Brain & Behavior (10.1007/s42113-022-00162-1)

2022

Hedge, C., Powell, G., Bompas, A. and Sumner, P. 2022. Strategy and processing speed eclipse individual differences in control ability in conflict tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 48(10), pp. 1448-1469. (10.1037/xlm0001028)

2020

Hedge, C., Powell, G., Bompas, A. and Sumner, P. 2020. Self-reported impulsivity does not predict response caution. Personality and Individual Differences 167, article number: 110257. (10.1016/j.paid.2020.110257)
Hedge, C., Bompas, A. and Sumner, P. 2020. Task reliability considerations in computational psychiatry. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging 5(9), pp. 837-839. (10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.05.004)
Bompas, A., Campbell, A. E. and Sumner, P. 2020. Cognitive control and automatic interference in mind and brain: A unified model of saccadic inhibition and countermanding. Psychological Review 127(4), pp. 524-561. (10.1037/rev0000181)
Szul, M. J., Bompas, A., Sumner, P. and Zhang, J. 2020. The validity and consistency of continuous joystick response in perceptual decision-making. Behavior Research Methods 52, pp. 681-693. (10.3758/s13428-019-01269-3)
Perquin, M. N., Yang, J., Teufel, C., Sumner, P., Hedge, C. and Bompas, A. 2020. Inability to improve performance with control shows limited access to inner states. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 149(2), pp. 249–274. (10.1037/xge0000641)
Morgan, P., Macken, W., Toet, A., Bompas, A., Bray, M., Rushton, S. and Jones, D. 2020. Distraction for the eye and ear. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science 21(6), pp. 633-657. (10.1080/1463922X.2020.1712493)

2019

Hedge, C., Vivian-Griffiths, S., Powell, G., Bompas, A. and Sumner, P. 2019. Slow and steady? Strategic adjustments in response caution are moderately reliable and correlate across tasks. Consciousness and Cognition 75, article number: 102797. (10.1016/j.concog.2019.102797)
Nicolas, J. et al. 2019. Saccadic Adaptation Boosts Ongoing Gamma Activity in a Subsequent Visuoattentional Task. Cerebral Cortex 29(9), pp. 3606-3617., article number: bhy241. (10.1093/cercor/bhy241)
Koelewijn, L. et al. 2019. Oscillatory hyperactivity and hyperconnectivity in young APOE-ɛ4 carriers and hypoconnectivity in Alzheimer's disease. eLife 8, article number: e36011. (10.7554/eLife.36011)
Perquin, M. and Bompas, A. 2019. Reliability and correlates of intra-individual variability in the oculomotor system. Journal of Eye Movement Research 12(6), article number: 11. (10.16910/jemr.12.6.11)

2018

Hedge, C., Powell, G., Bompas, A., Vivian-Griffiths, S. and Sumner, P. 2018. Low and variable correlation between reaction time costs and accuracy costs explained by accumulation models: Meta-analysis and simulations. Psychological Bulletin 144(11), pp. 1200-1227. (10.1037/bul0000164)

2017

Koelewijn, L., Bompas, A., Tales, A., Brookes, M. J., Muthukumaraswamy, S. D., Bayer, A. and Singh, K. D. 2017. Alzheimer's disease disrupts alpha and beta-band resting-state oscillatory network connectivity. Clinical Neurophysiology 128(11), pp. 2347-2357. (10.1016/j.clinph.2017.04.018)
Bompas, A., Hedge, C. and Sumner, P. 2017. Speeded saccadic and manual visuo-motor decisions: Distinct processes but same principles. Cognitive Psychology 94, pp. 26-52. (10.1016/j.cogpsych.2017.02.002)

2016

Powell, G., Sumner, P., Harrison, J. J. and Bompas, A. 2016. Interaction between contours and eye movements in the perception of afterimages: A test of the signal ambiguity theory. Journal of Vision 16(7), article number: 16. (10.1167/16.7.16)

2015

Bompas, A. and Sumner, P. 2015. Saccadic inhibition and the remote distractor effect: One mechanism or two?. Journal of Vision 15(6), pp. 516-525., article number: 15. (10.1167/15.6.15)
Powell, G., Sumner, P. and Bompas, A. 2015. The effect of eye movements and blinks on afterimage appearance and duration. Journal of Vision 15(3), pp. 1-15., article number: 20. (10.1167/15.3.20)
Bompas, A., Sumner, P., Muthumumaraswamy, S. D., Singh, K. D. and Gilchrist, I. D. 2015. The contribution of pre-stimulus neural oscillatory activity to spontaneous response time variability. NeuroImage 107, pp. 34-45. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.11.057)

2010

Sumner, P., Edden, R. A. E., Bompas, A., Evans, C. J. and Singh, K. D. 2010. More GABA, less distraction: a neurochemical predictor of motor decision speed. Nature Neuroscience 13(7), pp. 825-827. (10.1038/nn.2559)

2009

Bompas, A. and Sumner, P. 2009. Temporal dynamics of saccadic distraction. Journal of Vision 9(9), article number: 17. (10.1167/9.9.17)
Bompas, A. and Sumner, P. 2009. Oculomotor Distraction by Signals Invisible to the Retinotectal and Magnocellular Pathways. Journal of Neurophysiology 102(4), pp. 2387-2395. (10.1152/jn.00359.2009)

2008

Bompas, A., Sterling, T., Rafal, R. D. and Sumner, P. 2008. Naso-temporal asymmetry for signals invisible to the retinotectal pathway. Journal of Neurophysiology 100(1), pp. 412-421. (10.1152/jn.90312.2008)
Bompas, A. and Sumner, P. 2008. Sensory sluggishness dissociates saccadic, manual, and perceptual responses: An S-cone study. Journal of Vision 8(8), pp. 1-13. (10.1167/8.8.10)

2006

Bompas, A. and O'Regan, J. K. 2006. More evidence for sensorimotor adaptation in color perception. Journal of Vision 6(2), article number: 5. (10.1167/6.2.5)
Bompas, A. and O'Regan, J. K. 2006. Evidence for a role of action in colour perception. Perception -London- 35(1), pp. 65-78. (10.1068/p5356)

2002

Wolfe, J. M., Oliva, A., Horowitz, T. S., Butcher, S. J. and Bompas, A. 2002. Segmentation of objects from backgrounds in visual search tasks. Vision Research 42(28), pp. 2985-3004. (10.1016/S0042-6989(02)00388-7)

My team uses a combination of behavioural, physiological and neurological techniques to better understand visuo-motor performance, its biological underpinning and how it may differ within and across people

Here are some of my main projects and most relevant related papers:

Fast action decisions and their modelling. My team develops and uses a range of techniques to measure visuo-motor behaviour (visual psychophysics, eye-tracking) together with models (neural field models, linear accumulators, drift diffusion model) to offer quantitative approaches to behaviour and explicit links to brain activity.

Bompas, A., Sumner, P. and Hedge, C. 2024. Non-decision time: the Higgs Boson of decision. Psychological Review (10.1037/rev0000487)
Bompas, A., Campbell, A.E., and Sumner, P. (2020). Cognitive control and automatic interference in mind and brain: A unified model of saccadic inhibition and countermanding. Psychological Review. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/126614/
Bompas, A., Hedge, C. and Sumner, P. 2017. Speeded saccadic and manual visuo-motor decisions: distinct processes but same principles. Cognitive Psychology 94, pp. 26-52. (10.1016/j.cogpsych.2017.02.002)
Bompas, A., and Sumner, P. 2011. Saccadic inhibition reveals the timing of automatic and voluntary signals in the human brain. The Journal of Neuroscience 31(35), pp. 12501-12512. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2234-11.2011)

Ongoing projects on this theme include

Designing and validating better tools to measure executive control during visuomotor tasks (with Petroc Sumner and PhD students Phil Schmid and Heather Statham)
Linking individual differences in visual and motor speed with myelin content of white matter tracts like the optic radiations, the corpus callosum and the cortico-spinal tract (with PhD student Phil Schmid)

Variability in visuo-motor behaviours, its neural bases and the effect of age and Alzheimer’s disease. We use behavioural tasks, time series modelling, metacognition and magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings to better understand why performance varies across time, and how these fluctuations are affected with age and dementia.

Perquin, M. N., van Vugt, M. K., Hedge, C. and Bompas, A. (2023). Temporal structure in sensorimotor variability: a stable trait, but what for? Computational Brain & Behavior. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42113-022-00162-1
Perquin, M. N., Yang, J., Teufel, C., Sumner, P., Hedge, C. and Bompas, A. 2020. Inability to improve performance with control shows limited access to inner states. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 149(2), pp. 249–274. (10.1037/xge0000641)
Koelewijn, L. et al. 2019. Oscillatory hyperactivity and hyperconnectivity in young APOE-ɛ4 carriers and hypoconnectivity in Alzheimer's disease. eLife 8, article number: e36011. (10.7554/eLife.36011)
Koelewijn, L. Bompas, A., Tales, A., Brookes, M., Muthukumaraswamy, S.D., Bayer, A. & Singh, K.D. (2017). Alzheimer's disease disrupts alpha and beta-band resting-state oscillatory network connectivity. Clinical Neurophysiology 128(11), pp. 2347-2357. PMC5674981. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/100080/
Bompas, A., et al. 2015. The contribution of pre-stimulus neural oscillatory activity to spontaneous response time variability. NeuroImage 107, pp. 34-45. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.11.057)

Ongoing projects in this theme includes

Visual, decisional and motor contributions to behavioural variability in fast visuomotor decision and selective stopping tasks, using Electroretinograms, Magnetoencephalography and Electromyography (with PhD student Heather Statham)
The relationship between spontaneous fluctuations in behavioural performance, subjective attention focus and brain activity (with Dr Marlou Perquin)

Visual Perception: How do we learn to perceive? How do we distinguish the real from the illusory? How learning affect consciousness?

Powell, G.et al. 2016. Interaction between contours and eye movements in the perception of afterimages: A test of the signal ambiguity theory. Journal of Vision 16(7), article number: 16. (10.1167/16.7.16)
Powell, G., Sumner, P. and Bompas, A. E. D. 2015. The effect of eye movements and blinks on afterimage appearance and duration. Journal of Vision 15(3), pp. 1-15, article number: 20. (10.1167/15.3.20)
Bompas, A., Powell, G. and Sumner, P. 2013. Systematic biases in adult color perception persist despite lifelong information sufficient to calibrate them. Journal of Vision 13(1), article number: 19. (10.1167/13.1.19)
Powell, G., Bompas, A., and Sumner, P. 2012. Making the incredible credible: Afterimages are modulated by contextual edges more than real stimuli. Journal of Vision 12(10), article number: 17. (10.1167/12.10.17)
Bompas, A., and O'Regan, J. K. 2006. More evidence for sensorimotor adaptation in color perception. Journal of Vision 6(2), article number: 5. (10.1167/6.2.5)
Bompas, A., and O'Regan, J. K. 2006. Evidence for a role of action in colour perception. Perception -London- 35(1), pp. 65-78. (10.1068/p5356)

Ongoing projects in this theme includes:

Halchin, A., Teufel, C. Bompas, A. (registered report accepted in principle). Can unconscious experience drive perceptual learning?

Which neuronal pathways contribute to visuo-oculomotor control?

Sumner, P.et al. 2010. More GABA, less distraction: a neurochemical predictor of motor decision speed. Nature Neuroscience 13(7), pp. 825-827. (10.1038/nn.2559)
Bompas, A. E. D. and Sumner, P. 2009. Oculomotor Distraction by Signals Invisible to the Retinotectal and Magnocellular Pathways. Journal of Neurophysiology 102(4), pp. 2387-2395. (10.1152/jn.00359.2009)
Bompas, A. E. D. and Sumner, P. 2009. Temporal dynamics of saccadic distraction. Journal of Vision 9(9), article number: 17. (10.1167/9.9.17)
Bompas, A.et al. 2008. Naso-temporal asymmetry for signals invisible to the retinotectal pathway. Journal of Neurophysiology 100(1), pp. 412-421. (10.1152/jn.90312.2008)
Bompas, A. E. D. and Sumner, P. 2008. Sensory sluggishness dissociates saccadic, manual, and perceptual responses: An S-cone study. Journal of Vision 8(8), pp. 1-13. (10.1167/8.8.10)

Funding

2013-2016: ESRC grant (£633,613) “A framework and toolkit for understanding impulsive action”, co-written with Petroc Sumner (PI), Chris Chambers, Casimir Ludwig, Frederick Verbruggen and Fred Boy.

Research collaborators

Internal: School of Psychology: Petroc Sumner, Georgie Powell, Christoph Teufel, Krish Singh,

Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Cambridge University: Dr Marlou Perquin

School of Psychology, Aston University: Dr Craig Hedge

Year 2 module contributor "Thinking, Emotions and Consciousness" (PS2023)
Year 2 practical leader in the Perception and action module (PS2021)
Personal tutor
Placement supervisor
Final year project supervisor

Undergraduate education

1995-1998: Scientifique Baccalauréat and preparatory school in biology, mathematics, physics and chemistry at Lycée Chaptal (Paris).

1998-2001: masters degree in biology from the Institut National Agronomique de Paris.

Postgraduate education

2000-2001: advanced masters degree in cognitive sciences (DEA de sciences cognitives de Paris).

2001-2005: PhD student at the Laboratoire de Psychologie Expérimentale, CNRS, Université Paris 5 (UMR8581), supervised by Kevin O’Regan and Joelle Proust (Institut Jean Nicod). Grant from the French Research and Technology Ministry. Thesis on “The application of the sensorimotor approach to colour perception”.

Employment

2024-present: Reader at the School of Psychology, Cardiff University

2020-2024: Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychology, Cardiff University

2015-2020: Lecturer at the School of Psychology, Cardiff University

2012-2015: Research Associate at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, in the DYCOG team, “EEG monitoring for the anticipation of performance”, funded by the French ministry of defence

2006-2012: Research Associate at the School of Psychology, Cardiff University

2005-2006: research fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Department of Computational Psychophysics, Tübingen, Germany, award from the Fyssen Fondation.

Professional memberships

Member of the Mathematical Psychology Society
Member of the Applied Vision Association, AVA conference organising committee

Committees and reviewing

Editor for the Journal of Mathematical Psychology
Advisory board member of women of Mathematical Psychology
Reviewer for BBSRC, Icelandic Research Fund, FWF Austrian Science Fund, PNAS, Biological Psychiatry, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, Journal of Neuroscience, Psychological Science, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Journal of Experimental Psychology - General, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, NeuroImage, Journal of Neurophysiology, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Cortex, Nature Communications, Scientific Reports, Behavioural Brain Research, Journal of Vision, Vision Research, PlosOne, Perception, Journal of the Optical Society of America, European Journal of Neuroscience, Experimental Brain Research, Journal of the Neurological Sciences, Multisensory Research Psychological Research, Movement Disorders, Human Movement Science, Cognition and Emotion, Computational Brain and Behaviour, Cognitive Computation, Neuropsychologia, Behavioural Research Methods

Postgraduate research interests

All action decisions are subject to spontaneous fluctuations, resulting in large variability in speed and accuracy across time. My approach focuses on fast visuo-motor decisions and I am specifically interested in the following questions:

What is the balance of stochasticity and determinism in simple decisions, including free-choice?
What is the temporal structure and electrophysiological correlates of endogenous variance?
To what extent future decisions can be predicted from recent behaviour and brain activity?
What are the metacognitive correlates of poor performance?
What underlies hypervariability in attention disorders, hyperactivity or dementia?
Why people differ in speed and consistency and how this relates to their brain structure or function

If you are interested in applying for a PhD, or for further information regarding my postgraduate research, please contact me directly (contact details available on the 'Overview' page), or submit a formal application.

Other current PhD students include Heather Statham

Current supervision

Phil Schmid

Research student

Past projects

Dr Adelina Halchin
Dr Marlou N. Perquin
Dr Maciej Szul
Dr Georgie Powell

Contact Details

BompasAE@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29208 70709
Tower Building, 70 Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT

Research themes

Specialisms

behavioural psychology and neuroscience

Dr Aline Bompas (she/her)

Overview