University of Exeter Medical School

Dr. Juan Carlos Mendez

Dr. Juan Carlos Mendez

Lecturer in Neuroscience

 J.Mendez-Nunez@exeter.ac.uk

 College House G.07

 

College House, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK

Overview

Juan Carlos joined the University of Exeter as a Lecturer in Neuroscience in 2022.

Previously, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford. He first joined Prof Andrew Parker’s group, where he studied how the brain’s visual cortices compare the input from both eyes to calculate a scene’s depth. He then moved to Prof Anna Mitchell’s group, where he combined neuroimaging and electrophysiological techniques to understand how information is held in selective neurons while a cognitive task is being performed. As part of this team, Juan Carlos also advocated for increasing researchers’ involvement in public science awareness, collaborating in pioneering science engagement events.

Throughout his career, Juan Carlos has collaborated with different research groups using a wide variety of neuroscientific tools. With Prof John Rothwell, at UCL, he studied time perception using transcranial magnetic stimulation. He also spent a year at Prof Robert Desimone’s lab, at MIT, where he used optogenetics to manipulate neural activity during attentional tasks. Finally, during his PhD, under the direction of Prof Hugo Merchant at UNAM, he used neurophysiological techniques to find the neural correlates for the estimation, comparison, and categorisation of temporal and spatial information.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Neuroscience)
  • BSc Medicine

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Research

Research interests

Juan Carlos is interested in studying the neural circuits responsible for the imagery of temporal information, as well as the specific frequencies that are used to channel this information between the nodes of these circuits.

Research projects

Working Memory, Attention and Time perception: All in the imagination?

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Publications

Journal articles

Rassi E, Zhang Y, Mendoza G, Méndez JC, Merchant H, Haegens S (2023). Distinct beta frequencies reflect categorical decisions. Nat Commun, 14(1). Abstract.  Author URL.
Méndez JC, Perry BAL, Premereur E, Pelekanos V, Ramadan T, Mitchell AS (2023). Variable cardiac responses in rhesus macaque monkeys after discrete mediodorsal thalamus manipulations. Scientific Reports, 13(1). Abstract.
Perry BAL, Mendez JC, Mitchell AS (2022). Cortico‐thalamocortical interactions for learning, memory and decision‐making. The Journal of Physiology, 601(1), 25-35. Abstract.
Mendez JC, Perry BAL, Heppenstall RJ, Mason S, Mitchell AS (2022). Openness about animal research increases public support. Nature Neuroscience, 25(4), 401-403.
Mendoza G, Méndez JC, Pérez O, Prado L, Merchant H (2018). Neural basis for categorical boundaries in the primate pre-SMA during relative categorization of time intervals. Nature Communications, 9(1). Abstract.
Méndez JC, Rocchi L, Jahanshahi M, Rothwell J, Merchant H (2017). Probing the timing network: a continuous theta burst stimulation study of temporal categorization. Neuroscience, 356, 167-175.
Merchant H, Pérez O, Bartolo R, Méndez JC, Mendoza G, Gámez J, Yc K, Prado L (2015). Sensorimotor neural dynamics during isochronous tapping in the medial premotor cortex of the macaque. European Journal of Neuroscience, 41(5), 586-602. Abstract.
Méndez JC, Pérez O, Prado L, Merchant H (2014). Linking Perception, Cognition, and Action: Psychophysical Observations and Neural Network Modelling. PLoS ONE, 9(7), e102553-e102553.
Mendez JC, Prado L, Mendoza G, Merchant H (2011). Temporal and Spatial Categorization in Human and Non-Human Primates. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 5
Zarco W, Merchant H, Prado L, Mendez JC (2009). Subsecond Timing in Primates: Comparison of Interval Production Between Human Subjects and Rhesus Monkeys. Journal of Neurophysiology, 102(6), 3191-3202. Abstract.
Graff-Guerrero A, De la Fuente-Sandoval C, Camarena B, Gómez-Martin D, Apiquián R, Fresán A, Aguilar A, Méndez-Núñez JC, Escalona-Huerta C, Drucker-Colín R, et al (2005). Frontal and limbic metabolic differences in subjects selected according to genetic variation of the SLC6A4 gene polymorphism. Neuroimage, 25(4), 1197-1204. Abstract.  Author URL.
Graff-Guerrero A, González-Olvera J, Fresán A, Gómez-Martín D, Méndez-Núñez JC, Pellicer F (2005). Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex increases tolerance to human experimental pain. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res, 25(1), 153-160. Abstract.  Author URL.

Chapters

Merchant H, Bartolo R, Pérez O, Méndez JC, Mendoza G, Gámez J, Yc K, Prado L (2014). Neurophysiology of Timing in the Hundreds of Milliseconds: Multiple Layers of Neuronal Clocks in the Medial Premotor Areas. In  (Ed) Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, Springer New York, 143-154.
Merchant H, Bartolo R, Méndez JC, Pérez O, Zarco W, Mendoza G (2011). What can be Inferred from Multiple-task Psychophysical Studies about the Mechanisms for Temporal Processing?. In  (Ed) Multidisciplinary Aspects of Time and Time Perception, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 207-229.
Merchant H, Naselaris T, Zarco W, Bartolo R, Prado L, Pérez O, Méndez JC (2008). Functional Architecture of Directional Tuning in the Primate Motor Cortex During 3D Reaching. In  (Ed) From Development to Degeneration and Regeneration of the Nervous System, Oxford University PressNew York, 243-264. Abstract.

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External Engagement and Impact

Invited lectures & workshops

  • 2019 - Karolinska Institute, Sweden
  • 2017 - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Italy

Media Coverage

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