Profile

Favourite thing to do in my job: The dialogues with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHPQZQGKJ5M">nature</a> or its symbolic representations. Seeing it in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch#%21v=HIjMHFbqBrY">action</a>, considering <a href="http://axilone.com/legault/iss_atlantis_transit_2010.html">our place</a> in it, and the storm of endorphines you get when you understand why things worked out the way they did.

My Work

I <a href="http://frontiersin.org/neuroinformatics/paper/10.3389/neuro.11/025.2009/">analyze brain scans</a> to detect structural changes over time or between groups, with a focus on schizophrenia and evolution: What is the relation between the <a href="http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Brain_size">size</a> and <a href="http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Gyrification">folding</a> of a brain?

My Typical Day

I <a href="http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Skull_stripping">strip digital brains</a> of their skulls, <a href="http://vimeo.com/3294632">inflate</a> and <a href="http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Surface-based_morphometry">compare</a> them.

What I'd do with the prize money

I would use it to stimulate <a href="http://researchblogging.org/">research blogging</a> on <a href="http://friendfeed.com/chordoma">neglected</a> <a href="http://friendfeed.com/science-in-the-long-run">topics</a>.

My Interview

• How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

  <a href="http://ways.org/en/blogs/2009/jun/29/what_would_science_look_like_if_it_were_invented_today">What would science</a>

  What's the best thing you've done in your career?

  Non-invasively recorded 3D images of <a href="http://vimeo.com/album/134427">fossils</a>, <a href="http://vimeo.com/album/134429">embryonic development</a> and <a href="http://vimeo.com/album/134431">supercooled insect larvae</a>, by means of <a href="http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Magnetic_resonance_imaging">Magnetic Resonance Imaging</a>.

  Were you ever in trouble at school?

  A number of teachers and class mates certainly thought so on occasion.

  Who is your favourite singer or band?

  I prefer music which does not require electricity to be performed. A good example is the throat-singing of the group <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBKb4HKSfoU">AltaiKai</a>.

  What is the most fun thing you've done?

  One of the most exciting moments was performing <a href="http://home.arcor.de/tschiltan/musik/tschiltan_mastimastum.mp3">traditional Central Asian music</a> with <a href="http://tschiltan.de/">my band</a> in the heart of Central Asia – on the <a href="http://wondergetaways.com/wp-content/thumbnails/556.jpg">Registan Square</a> in Samarqand, Usbekistan. You can get an idea about that from <a href="http://bit.ly/Tschiltan-video">this trailer</a>, with video graphics imitating the style of Uzbek TV.

  If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

  (1) A life that is balanced between work, family, hobbies, health and environmental footprint, (2) a long-term research grant with no strings attached, (3) more occasions to actually use foreign languages.

  Tell us a joke.

  <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7DkeQ0roAM">Schrödinger’s cat walks into a bar … and doesn’t.</a>

My profile link:
https://ias.im/u.1457