Distributed representations of behaviour-derived object dimensions in the human visual system
A comprehensive characterization of how the brain organizes our understanding of the objects we see.
Selected work
THINGS-data: large-scale multimodal datasets for object representations in brain and behavior
Open datasets for studying object representations across brain (fMRI, MEG) and behavior.
About
My work focuses on visual cognition: How does the brain transform the complex signal entering our eyes into neural codes that reflect experience and support behavior? I use large-scale neuroimaging methods and naturalistic designs in combination with modeling approaches that connect brain data to behavior and AI vision and langauge systems.
Another focus is reproducible, community-driven neuroscience: building, sharing, and maintaining open datasets that help drive discovery.
Background & activities
Education
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2025 · Doctorate (PhD, Dr. rer. nat.) · University of Leipzig
Thesis: Functional organization of behaviorally-relevant object information in human visual cortex - 2019/20 · Max Planck School of Cognition (advanced graduate program)
- 2018 · M. Sc. Psychology · Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg
- 2014 · B. Sc. Psychology · Trier University
Awards & scholarships
- Walter Benjamin Postdoctoral Fellowship · German Research Foundation (DFG) · 2026
- Open Science Prizen · Interest Group for Open and Reproducible Research (IGOR) · Division of Biological and Neuropsychology · German Psychological Association · 2022
- Doctoral scholarship of the Max Planck School of Cognition · Max Planck Society · 2019–2020
- PROMOS scholarship · German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) · 2017
Impact metrics
494 citations·h-index 6·1.3k+ dataset downloads
Last updated:
Publications
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Peer-reviewed
- St-Laurent, Pinsard, Contier, DuPre, Seeliger, Borghesani, Boyle, Bellec, Hebart (2026). CNeuroMod-THINGS, a densely-sampled fMRI dataset for visual neuroscience. Scientific Data.
- Contier, Baker & Hebart (2024). Distributed representations of behaviour-derived object dimensions in the human visual system. Nature Human Behaviour.
- Kalyani, Contier, Klemm, Azañon, Schreiber, Speck, Reichert, Kuehn (2023). Reduced dimension stimulus decoding and column-based modeling reveal architectural differences of primary somatosensory finger maps between younger and older adults. NeuroImage.
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Hebart*, Contier*, Teichmann*, Rockter, Zheng, Kidder, Corriveau, Vaziri-Pashkam, Baker (2023).
THINGS-data, a multimodal collection of large-scale datasets for investigating object representations in human brain and behavior.
eLife.
(* equal contribution)
- Fritz, Schütte, Steixner, Contier, Obrig, Villringer (2019). Musical meaning modulates word acquisition. Brain and Language.
- Fritz, Bowling, Contier, Grant, Schneider, Lederer, Hoer, Busch & Villringer (2018). Musical agency during exercise decreases pain. Frontiers in Psychology.
- Sharifian, Contier, Preuschhof & Pollmann (2017). Reward modulation of contextual cueing: Repeated context overshadows repeated target location. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.
Conference posters & talks
- Contier, Fujimori, Seeliger, Murty & Hebart (2023). Revealing interpretable object dimensions from a high-throughput model of the fusiform face area. Journal of Vision.
- Stoinski, Contier, Konkle & Hebart (2023). Revisiting the animacy, size, and curvature organization of human visual cortex. Journal of Vision.
- St-Laurent, Pinsard, Contier, Seeliger, Borghesani, Boyle, Bellec & Hebart (2023). cneuromod-things: a large-scale fMRI dataset for task- and data-driven assessment of object representation and visual memory recognition in the human brain. Journal of Vision.
- Contier, Teichmann, Baker & Hebart (2022). The THINGS initiative: a global large-scale effort for the representative study of objects in brains, behavior, and computational models. 47. Jahrestagung Psychologie und Gehirn.
- Contier & Hebart (2022). Distributed representation of behaviorally-relevant object dimensions in the human brain. Journal of Vision.
- Contier, Hebart, Dickter, Teichmann, Kidder, Corriveau, Zheng, Vaziri-Pashkam & Baker (2021). THINGS-fMRI/MEG: A densely sampled multimodal neuroimaging dataset of brain responses to a broad range of natural object images. Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting.
- Contier, Hebart, Dickter, Teichmann, Kidder, Corriveau, Zheng, Vaziri-Pashkam & Baker (2021). THINGS-fMRI/MEG: A large-scale multimodal neuroimaging dataset of responses to natural object images. Journal of Vision.
- Kalyani, Contier, Reichert, Azañon & Kuehn (2021). Shared response modelling of S1 digit representations in younger and older adults using 7T fMRI. Organization for Human Brain Mapping Annual Meeting.
- Contier, Kuehn & Hanke (2020). Shared response modelling of somatosensory digit representations using 7T fMRI. Organization for Human Brain Mapping Annual Meeting.
- Contier, Visconti di Oleggio Castello, Gobbini & Halchenko (2018). Temporal dynamics and effective connectivity in the distributed system of familiar face processing. Organization for Human Brain Mapping Annual Meeting.