![Chen Song](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/3057?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Overview
Consciousness is central to human existence. Yet, what exactly is consciousness and how does the brain give rise to consciousness remain the most compelling puzzles facing scientists today. Research in my group focuses on understanding how consciousness emerges from the complexity of brain structure (braincomplexitylab.com). We investigate (1) how the structure of the brain differs across individuals and leads to inter-individual differences in brain function and conscious experiences; (2) how sleep benefits us by improving brain structure for better functionality and richer conscious experiences. From these studies, we wish to understand what constitutes an optimal brain structure for consciousness, and explore how that optimal brain structure may be achieved through learning, sleep and brain plasticity.
Publication
2025
- Song, C. 2025. Understanding the qualitative nature of human consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 29, pp. 105-106. (10.1016/j.tics.2024.10.005)
- Pereira, M. et al. 2025. Sleep neuroimaging: Review and future directions. Journal of Sleep Research (10.1111/jsr.14462)
2024
- Denisova, K., Motomura, Y. and Song, C. 2024. Sleep on it: exploring the psychology of sleep amidst contemporary challenges. Scientific Reports 14(1), article number: 30501. (10.1038/s41598-024-82330-w)
2022
- Song, C., Sandberg, K., Rutiku, R. and Kanai, R. 2022. Linking human behaviour to brain structure: further challenges and possible solutions. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 23, pp. 517-518. (10.1038/s41583-022-00614-4)
- Song, C., Boly, M., Tagliazucchi, E., Laufs, H. and Tononi, G. 2022. FMRI spectral signatures of sleep. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 9(30), article number: e2016732119. (10.1073/pnas.2016732119)
2021
- Song, C. 2021. Brain structural complexity and consciousness. Philosophy and the Mind Sciences 2 (10.33735/phimisci.2021.9185)
2020
- Song, C. and Tagliazucchi, E. 2020. Linking the nature and functions of sleep: insights from multimodal imaging of the sleeping brain. Current Opinion in Physiology 15, pp. 29-36. (10.1016/j.cophys.2019.11.012)
- Rahnev, D. et al. 2020. The Confidence Database. Nature Human Behaviour 4, pp. 317-325. (10.1038/s41562-019-0813-1)
2018
- Song, C. and Rees, G. 2018. Intra-hemispheric integration underlies perception of tilt illusion. NeuroImage 175, pp. 80-90. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.03.073)
- Wright, N. D., Grohn, J., Song, C., Rees, G. and Lawson, R. P. 2018. Cultural effects on computational metrics of spatial and temporal context. Scientific Reports 8, article number: 2027. (10.1038/s41598-018-20200-y)
2017
- Song, C., Sandberg, K., Andersen, L. M., Blicher, J. U. and Rees, G. 2017. Human occipital and parietal GABA selectively influence visual perception of orientation and size. Journal of Neuroscience 37(37), pp. 8929-8937. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3945-16.2017)
- Song, C., Haun, A. M. and Tononi, G. 2017. Plasticity in the structure of visual space. eNeuro 4(3), article number: e0080-17.2017. (10.1523/ENEURO.0080-17.2017)
2016
- Song, C. and Yao, H. 2016. Unconscious processing of invisible visual stimuli. Scientific Reports 6(1), article number: 38917. (10.1038/srep38917)
2015
- Song, C., Schwarzkopf, D. S., Kanai, R. and Rees, G. 2015. Neural population tuning links visual cortical anatomy to human visual perception. Neuron 85(3), pp. 641-656. (10.1016/j.neuron.2014.12.041)
2014
- Xu, J. et al. 2014. Spontaneous neuronal activity predicts intersubject variations in executive control of attention. Neuroscience 263, pp. 181-192. (10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.01.020)
2013
- Song, C., Schwarzkopf, D. S., Lutti, A., Li, B., Kanai, R. and Rees, G. 2013. Effective connectivity within human primary visual cortex predicts interindividual diversity in illusory perception. Journal of Neuroscience 33(48), pp. 18781-18791. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4201-12.2013)
- Song, C., Schwarzkopf, D. S. and Rees, G. 2013. Variability in visual cortex size reflects tradeoff between local orientation sensitivity and global orientation modulation. Nature Communications 4, article number: 2201. (10.1038/ncomms3201)
2012
- Schwarzkopf, D. S., Robertson, D. J., Song, C., Barnes, G. R. and Rees, G. 2012. The frequency of visually induced gamma-band oscillations depends on the size of early human visual cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 32(4), pp. 1507-1512. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4771-11.2012)
2011
- Song, C., Kanai, R., Fleming, S. M., Weil, R. S., Schwarzkopf, D. S. and Rees, G. 2011. Relating inter-individual differences in metacognitive performance on different perceptual tasks. Consciousness and Cognition 20(4), pp. 1787-1792. (10.1016/j.concog.2010.12.011)
- Song, C., Schwarzkopf, D. S., Kanai, R. and Rees, G. 2011. Reciprocal anatomical relationship between primary sensory and prefrontal cortices in the human brain. Journal of Neuroscience 31(26), pp. 9472-9480. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0308-11.2011)
- Song, C., Schwarzkopf, D. S. and Rees, G. 2011. Interocular induction of illusory size perception. BMC Neuroscience 12(1), article number: 27. (10.1186/1471-2202-12-27)
- Harris, J. J., Schwarzkopf, D. S., Song, C., Bahrami, B. and Rees, G. 2011. Contextual illusions reveal the limit of unconscious visual processing. Psychological Science 22(3), pp. 399-405. (10.1177/0956797611399293)
- Elze, T., Song, C., Stollhoff, R. and Jost, J. 2011. Chinese characters reveal impacts of prior experience on very early stages of perception. BMC Neuroscience 12(1), article number: 14. (10.1186/1471-2202-12-14)
2010
- Schwarzkopf, D. S., Song, C. and Rees, G. 2010. The surface area of human V1 predicts the subjective experience of object size. Nature Neuroscience 14(1), pp. 28-30. (10.1038/nn.2706)
2009
- Song, C. and Yao, H. 2009. Duality in binocular rivalry: distinct sensitivity of percept sequence and percept duration to imbalance between monocular stimuli. PLoS ONE 4(9), article number: e6912. (10.1371/journal.pone.0006912)
Articles
- Song, C. 2025. Understanding the qualitative nature of human consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 29, pp. 105-106. (10.1016/j.tics.2024.10.005)
- Pereira, M. et al. 2025. Sleep neuroimaging: Review and future directions. Journal of Sleep Research (10.1111/jsr.14462)
- Denisova, K., Motomura, Y. and Song, C. 2024. Sleep on it: exploring the psychology of sleep amidst contemporary challenges. Scientific Reports 14(1), article number: 30501. (10.1038/s41598-024-82330-w)
- Song, C., Sandberg, K., Rutiku, R. and Kanai, R. 2022. Linking human behaviour to brain structure: further challenges and possible solutions. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 23, pp. 517-518. (10.1038/s41583-022-00614-4)
- Song, C., Boly, M., Tagliazucchi, E., Laufs, H. and Tononi, G. 2022. FMRI spectral signatures of sleep. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 9(30), article number: e2016732119. (10.1073/pnas.2016732119)
- Song, C. 2021. Brain structural complexity and consciousness. Philosophy and the Mind Sciences 2 (10.33735/phimisci.2021.9185)
- Song, C. and Tagliazucchi, E. 2020. Linking the nature and functions of sleep: insights from multimodal imaging of the sleeping brain. Current Opinion in Physiology 15, pp. 29-36. (10.1016/j.cophys.2019.11.012)
- Rahnev, D. et al. 2020. The Confidence Database. Nature Human Behaviour 4, pp. 317-325. (10.1038/s41562-019-0813-1)
- Song, C. and Rees, G. 2018. Intra-hemispheric integration underlies perception of tilt illusion. NeuroImage 175, pp. 80-90. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.03.073)
- Wright, N. D., Grohn, J., Song, C., Rees, G. and Lawson, R. P. 2018. Cultural effects on computational metrics of spatial and temporal context. Scientific Reports 8, article number: 2027. (10.1038/s41598-018-20200-y)
- Song, C., Sandberg, K., Andersen, L. M., Blicher, J. U. and Rees, G. 2017. Human occipital and parietal GABA selectively influence visual perception of orientation and size. Journal of Neuroscience 37(37), pp. 8929-8937. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3945-16.2017)
- Song, C., Haun, A. M. and Tononi, G. 2017. Plasticity in the structure of visual space. eNeuro 4(3), article number: e0080-17.2017. (10.1523/ENEURO.0080-17.2017)
- Song, C. and Yao, H. 2016. Unconscious processing of invisible visual stimuli. Scientific Reports 6(1), article number: 38917. (10.1038/srep38917)
- Song, C., Schwarzkopf, D. S., Kanai, R. and Rees, G. 2015. Neural population tuning links visual cortical anatomy to human visual perception. Neuron 85(3), pp. 641-656. (10.1016/j.neuron.2014.12.041)
- Xu, J. et al. 2014. Spontaneous neuronal activity predicts intersubject variations in executive control of attention. Neuroscience 263, pp. 181-192. (10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.01.020)
- Song, C., Schwarzkopf, D. S., Lutti, A., Li, B., Kanai, R. and Rees, G. 2013. Effective connectivity within human primary visual cortex predicts interindividual diversity in illusory perception. Journal of Neuroscience 33(48), pp. 18781-18791. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4201-12.2013)
- Song, C., Schwarzkopf, D. S. and Rees, G. 2013. Variability in visual cortex size reflects tradeoff between local orientation sensitivity and global orientation modulation. Nature Communications 4, article number: 2201. (10.1038/ncomms3201)
- Schwarzkopf, D. S., Robertson, D. J., Song, C., Barnes, G. R. and Rees, G. 2012. The frequency of visually induced gamma-band oscillations depends on the size of early human visual cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 32(4), pp. 1507-1512. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4771-11.2012)
- Song, C., Kanai, R., Fleming, S. M., Weil, R. S., Schwarzkopf, D. S. and Rees, G. 2011. Relating inter-individual differences in metacognitive performance on different perceptual tasks. Consciousness and Cognition 20(4), pp. 1787-1792. (10.1016/j.concog.2010.12.011)
- Song, C., Schwarzkopf, D. S., Kanai, R. and Rees, G. 2011. Reciprocal anatomical relationship between primary sensory and prefrontal cortices in the human brain. Journal of Neuroscience 31(26), pp. 9472-9480. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0308-11.2011)
- Song, C., Schwarzkopf, D. S. and Rees, G. 2011. Interocular induction of illusory size perception. BMC Neuroscience 12(1), article number: 27. (10.1186/1471-2202-12-27)
- Harris, J. J., Schwarzkopf, D. S., Song, C., Bahrami, B. and Rees, G. 2011. Contextual illusions reveal the limit of unconscious visual processing. Psychological Science 22(3), pp. 399-405. (10.1177/0956797611399293)
- Elze, T., Song, C., Stollhoff, R. and Jost, J. 2011. Chinese characters reveal impacts of prior experience on very early stages of perception. BMC Neuroscience 12(1), article number: 14. (10.1186/1471-2202-12-14)
- Schwarzkopf, D. S., Song, C. and Rees, G. 2010. The surface area of human V1 predicts the subjective experience of object size. Nature Neuroscience 14(1), pp. 28-30. (10.1038/nn.2706)
- Song, C. and Yao, H. 2009. Duality in binocular rivalry: distinct sensitivity of percept sequence and percept duration to imbalance between monocular stimuli. PLoS ONE 4(9), article number: e6912. (10.1371/journal.pone.0006912)
Research
Brain Complexity
Our brain is highly complex and is composed of many regions, each serving a unique set of functions. What enables different brain regions to have different functions? Is that because of their inherent structural differences? If so, how do structurally different brain regions get to work coordinately? To understand the organizing principles of the brain, we study (A) how different brain regions differ structurally, (B) how the structural differences underlie the functional differences, and (C) whether the empirically observed function of a brain region is indeed what the structure of this region is optimal for.
From Brain Complexity to Behavioral Complexity
Mirroring the brain complexity, human behavior and consciousness are highly complex. The complexity is present not only in high-level cognitive domains such as introspection, planning, reasoning, but also in low-level sensory domains. For example, our visual perception of an image is rarely a truthful reflection of the physical features of the image, but is instead biased by the contexts in which the image appears and by our experience or expectation. To understand the links between brain complexity and behavioral complexity, we study (A) how different individuals differ in their brain structure, (B) how the inter-individual differences in brain structure affect neural function, and (C) lead to inter-individual differences in behavior and consciousness.
Brain and Behavioral Plasticity
A remarkable feature of human brain and behavior is their adaptability and plasticity. The environmental inputs we receive while awake can induce changes in brain structure, via which we learn and adapt. Even when we are asleep and disconnected from the environment, the brain is still highly active, and the sleeping brain activity can induce brain structural changes via activity-dependent plasticity. To understand the mechanisms of brain and behavioral plasticity, we study (A) how learning and sleep interact to change brain structure, (B) whether different mechanisms of brain plasticity may be at play during wake versus sleep, and (C) whether the contrast between wake and sleep in brain plasticity may hold key to our behavioral plasticity and adaptability.
Biography
Education
- PhD in Neuroscience, University College London
- MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London
- BSc in Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Positions
- Since 2017: Principal Investigator, Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Cardiff University, UK
- 2014 - 2017: Postdoctoral Fellow, Wisconsin Institute for Sleep and Consciousness, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
- 2013 - 2014: Postdoctoral Fellow, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, UK
- 2010 - 2013: Postgraduate Researcher, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, UK
- 2009 - 2010: Postgraduate Researcher, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UK
- 2007 - 2007: Undergraduate Researcher, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Science, Germany
- 2006 - 2009: Undergraduate Researcher, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Awards
- 2017: Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship, Wellcome Trust
- 2017: Marie Curie COFUND Fellowship, European Commission and Welsh Government
- 2016: British Neuroscience Association Award, British Neuroscience Association
- 2015: Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Scholars Abroad, Chinese Government
- 2014: Young Entrepreneurs Scheme Award, UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- 2013: Enterprise Scholarship, University College London
- 2013: Cross-Disciplinary Research Scholarship, University College London
- 2010: Overseas Research Scholarship, University College London
- 2010: Brain Research Trust Scholarship, Brain Research Trust
- 2008: Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research Award, Sigma Xi Society
- 2007: DAAD-IAESTE Award, German Academic Exchange Service
- 2006: Excellent Academy Scholarship, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- 2005: National Scholarship, Chinese Government
Grants
- 2018 - 2022: Influence of sleep on human brain structure (Wellcome Trust, £250,000)
- 2017 - 2020: Improve cognition and brain structure by manipulating sleep brain activity (European Commission, £360,694)
- 2017 - 2018: Structure and function of brain connections in diagnosis of mental disorders (Welsh Government, £14,750)
- 2013 - 2014: Dynamics of solar coronal activity versus human brain activity (University College London, £36,976)
- 2013 - 2013: Predicting aesthetic preferences from human brain structure (University College London, £4,000)
- 2010 - 2013: Neurobiological basis of inter-individual variability in visual perception (University College London, £54,985)
- 2010 - 2013: Context, consciousness and the brain (Brain Research Trust, £109,828)
- 2008 - 2009: Binocular rivalry and visual consciousness (Sigma-Xi Society, $600)
- 2007 - 2007: Modelling top-down influences in visual processing (German Academic Exchange Service, €2,400)
Supervisions
We have funding available for PhD and postdoc. Please contact me at SongC5@cardiff.ac.uk for any enquiry. We welcome anyone interested in the broad area of neuroscience, brain imaging and consciousness research to join or collaborate.
Current Supervision
- Since 2017: Alun Metcalf
- Since 2017: Jack Briggs
- Since 2017: Zhishan Liu
- Since 2018: Chunxiang Jiang
- Since 2018: Marco Bigica
- 2019 - 2020: Alicia Critchley
- 2019 - 2020: Nikolay Topol
- 2019 - 2020: Avelia Daves
- 2019 - 2020: Erica Nidhiry
- 2019 - 2020: Melissa Young
Previous Supervision
- 2017 - 2018: Kate Crawford
- 2017 - 2018: Jessica Yang
- 2017 - 2018: Harry Huang
- 2017 - 2018: Abby Pearson
- 2017 - 2018: Adam Nekkhavi
- 2017 - 2018: Ahmed Khammas
- 2018 - 2019: Ayse Can
- 2018 - 2019: Ilenia D'Onofrio
- 2018 - 2019: Suheda Topal
- 2018 - 2019: Mariam Almulaifi
- 2018 - 2019: Liam Clarke
- 2018 - 2019: Mara Diaz
- 2018 - 2019: Kiah Lunstone
- 2018 - 2019: Rebecca Michelson
- 2018 - 2019: George Trilloe
- 2018 - 2019: Grace Watson
- 2018 - 2019: Thomas Webb
- 2018 - 2019: Isabella Nytch
- 2018 - 2019: Sugiyarto Geulis
- 2018 - 2019: Adelina Zulkifli
- 2018 - 2019: Amy Broadbent
- 2018 - 2019: Caitlin Thomas
- 2018 - 2019: Keira Blake
Contact Details
SongC5@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29206 88910
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Room Room 1.010, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
+44 29206 88910
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Room Room 1.010, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ