Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Professor Alexander Thiele

Professor of Visual Neuroscience

  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 7564
  • Personal Website:
  • Address: Biosciences Institute
    Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology
    Â鶹´«Ã½,
    Framlington Place,
    Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne
    NE2 4HH
Background
I am a Professor of Visual Neuroscience in the Biosciences Institute at Â鶹´«Ã½. I have studied Biology at Bochum University, Germany, where I also did my PhD. Thereafter I went on a HFSP fellowship to Tom Albright's lab (Salk Institute) for a post-doc for 3 years. In 2000 I was offered a Lectureship at what was then the Department of Psychology, Â鶹´«Ã½, and I have become a full Professor in 2004. Through many rounds of restructuring, I have been parts of different Departments, Schools, and Institutes and am now based in the Biosciences Institute, where I supervise my research group, and where I also am the theme lead for the 'Neuroscience, Neurodisability, and Neurological Disorders' theme.
Research

Research Interests

Key words: Visual Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience ,Neuropharmacology, Attention, Decision making, Neural coding

My  work focusses on neuronal and sensory coding, and the analysis of cognitive function in relation to neuropharmacology. I lead a multidisciplinary team, using a variety of different animal models, as well as human subjects, to understand mechanisms of cognition in relation to sensory processing.

Work in my lab spans multiple areas including:  basic aspects of vision and audition and how this is facilitated by temporal coding, and by intra-areal and interareal communication as well as mechanisms of learning, attention and decision making. A key driving question is unravelling the underlying neuropharmacology that enables these processes.

I exploit multiple techniques to address these topics, including humans and non-human primate fMRI, multi-electrode single cell recordings in non-human primate, 2-photon Ca imaging, and optogenetics, all combined with neuropharmacological manipulations.

Teaching
I teach in the School of Psychology, and in the Biomedical Sciences programme, and in taught  MRes programmes.
Publications

  • Articles

    • Thiele A, McDonald Milner A, Hall C, Mayhew L, Carter A, Sanjeev S. . Psychopharmacology 2025, 242, 1757-1768.
    • Cheng Y-A, Sanayei M, Chen X, Jia K, Li S, Fang F, Watanabe T, Thiele A, Zhang R-Y. . Nature Human Behaviour 2025, 9, 1023–1040.
    • Thiele A, Chen X, Sanayei M, Chicharro D, Distler C, Panzeri S. . Journal of Cognitive Enhancement 2024, 8, 308-333.
    • Spyropoulos G, Schneider M, van Kempen J, Gieselmann MA, Thiele A, Vinck M. . Neuron 2024, 112(14), 2423-2432.e7.
    • Alldrit S, Balezeau F, Griffiths TD, Petkov CI, Poirier C, Thiele A, Xu Tu. . bioRXiv 2024. Submitted.
    • Smart C, Mitchell A, McCutcheon F, Medcalf RL, Thiele A. . iScience 2023, 26(2), 105947.
    • Doostmohammadi J, Gieselmann MA, van Kempen J, Lashgari R, Yoonessi A, Thiele A. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2023, 120(5), e2210698120.
    • Zeraati R, Shi Y-L, Steinmetz NA, Gieselmann MA, Thiele A, Moore T, Levina A, Engel TA. . Nature Communications 2023, 14(1), 1858.
    • Dheerendra P, Baumann S, Joly O, Balezeau F, Petkov CI, Thiele A, Griffiths TD. . Cerebral Cortex 2022, 32(16), 3568-3580.
    • Gieselmann MA, Thiele A. . eLife 2022, 11, e62949.
    • van Kempen J, Gieselmann MA, Boyd M, Steinmetz NA, Moore T, Engel TA, Thiele A. . Neuron 2021, 109(5), 894-904.
    • Schneider F, Balezeau F, Distler C, Kikuchi Y, van Kempen J, Gieselmann MA, Petkov CI, Thiele A, Griffiths TD. . Cell Reports 2021, 35(11), 109242.
    • Balezeau F, Nacef J, Kikuchi Y, Schneider F, Rocchi F, Muers RS, Fernandez-Palacios O'Connor R, Blau C, Wilson B, Saunders RC, Howard M, Thiele A, Griffiths TD, Petkov CI, Murphy K. . NeuroImage 2021, 230, 117778.
    • Herrero JL, Thiele A. . Scientific Reports 2021, 11(1), 8384.
    • Ferro D, van Kempen J, Boyd M, Panzeri S, Thiele A. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2021, 118(12), e2022097118.
    • Dasilva M, Brandt C, Gieselmann MA, Distler C, Thiele A. . Cerebral Cortex 2021, 31(7), 3266–3284.
    • Perry BAL, Mason S, Nacef J, Waddle A, Hynes B, Bergmann C, Schmid MC, Petkov CI, Thiele A, Mitchell AS. . Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2020, 108992.
    • Tremblay S, Acker L, Afraz A, Albaugh DL, Amita H, Andrei AR, Angelucci A, Aschner A, Balan PF, Basso MA, Benvenuti G, Bohlen MO, Caiola MJ, Calcedo R, Cavanaugh J, Chen Y, Chen S, Chernov MM, Clark AM, Dai J, Debes SR, Deisseroth K, Desimone R, Dragoi V, Egger SW, Eldridge MAG, El-Nahal HG, Fabbrini F, Federer F, Fetsch CR, Fortuna MG, Friedman RM, Fujii N, Gail A, Galvan A, Ghosh S, Gieselmann MA, Gulli RA, Hikosaka O, Hosseini EA, Hu X, Huer J, Inoue KI, Janz R, Jazayeri M, Jiang R, Ju N, Kar K, Klein C, Kohn A, Komatsu M, Maeda K, Martinez-Trujillo JC, Matsumoto M, Maunsell JHR, Mendoza-Halliday D, Monosov IE, Muers RS, Nurminen L, Ortiz-Rios M, O'Shea DJ, Palfi S, Petkov CI, Pojoga S, Rajalingham R, Ramakrishnan C, Remington ED, Revsine C, Roe AW, Sabes PN, Saunders RC, Scherberger H, Schmid MC, Schultz W, Seidemann E, Senova YS, Shadlen MN, Sheinberg DL, Siu C, Smith Y, Solomon SS, Sommer MA, Spudich JL, Stauffer WR, Takada M, Tang S, Thiele A, Treue S, Vanduffel W, Vogels R, Whitmire MP, Wichmann T, Wurtz RH, Xu H, Yazdan-Shahmorad A, Shenoy KV, DiCarlo JJ, Platt ML. . Neuron 2020, 108(6), 1075-1090.
    • Gray H, Thiele A, Rowe C. . Laboratory Animals 2019, 53(4), 372-382.
    • Dasila M, Brandt C, Gotthardt S, Gieselmann MA, Distler C, Thiele A. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2019, 116(40), 20180-20189.
    • van Kempen J, Loughnane GM, Newmann DP, Kelly SP, Thiele A, Bellgrove MA. . eLife 2019, 8, e42541.
    • Sanayei M, Chen X, Chicharro D, Distler C, Panzeri S, Thiele A. . Nature Communications 2018, 9, 4238.
    • Ortiz-Rios M, Haag M, Balezeau F, Frey S, Thiele A, Murphy K, Schmid MC. . Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2018, 308, 377-389.
    • Schneider F, Dheerendra P, Balezeau F, Ortiz-Rios M, Kikuchi Y, Petkov CI, Thiele A, Griffiths TD. . Scientific Reports 2018, 8, 17948.
    • Milham MP, Ai L, Koo B, Xu T, Amiez C, Balezeau F, Baxter MG, Blezer ELA, Brochier T, Chen A, Croxson PL, Damatac CG, Dehaene S, Everling S, Fair DA, Fleysher L, Freiwald W, Froudist-Walsh S, Griffiths TD, Guedj C, Hadj-Bouziane F, Ben Hamed S, Harel N, Hiba B, Jarraya B, Jung B, Kastner S, Klink PC, Kwok SC, Laland KN, Leopold DA, Lindenfors P, Mars RB, Menon RS, Messinger A, Meunier M, Mok K, Morrison JH, Nacef J, Nagy J, Ortiz-Rios M, Petkov CI, Pinsk M, Poirier C, Procyk E, Rajimehr R, Reader S, Roelfsema P, Rudko DA, Rushworth MFS, Russ BE, Sallet J, Schmid MC, Schwiedrzik CM, Seidlitz J, Sein J, Shmuel A, Sullivan EL, Ungerleider L, Thiele A, Todorov OS, Tsao D, Wang Z, Wilson CRE, Yacoub E, Ye FQ, Zarco W, Zhou Y, Margulies DS, Schroeder CES. . Neuron 2018, 100(1), 61-74.
    • Gray H, Pearce B, Thiele A, Rowe C. . PLoS ONE 2017, 12(5), e0178048.
    • Savage MA, McQuade R, Thiele A. . Journal of Comparative Neurology 2017, 525(8), 1980-1999.
    • Herrero JL, Gieselmann MA, Thiele A. . Frontiers in Neural Circuits 2017, 11, 106.
    • van Kempen J, Panzeri S, Thiele A. . Trends in Neurosciences 2017, 40(9), 522-524.
    • Poirier C, Baumann S, Dheerendra P, Joly O, Hunter D, Balezeau F, Sun L, Rees A, Petkov CI, Thiele A, Griffiths TD. . PLoS Biology 2017, 15(5), 1-24.
    • Engel TA, Steinmetz NA, Gieselmann MA, Thiele A, Moore T, Boahen K. . Science 2016, 354(6316), 1140-1144.
    • Gray H, Bertrand H, Mindus C, Flecknell P, Rowe C, Thiele A. . eNeuro 2016, 3(4), 1-15.
    • Ioannidou K, Krakowiak K, Bauchy M, Hoover CG, Masoero E, Yip S, Ulm FJ, Levitz P, Pellenq RJM, Del Gado E. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2016, 113(8), 2029-2034.
    • Slater H, Milne AE, Wilson B, Muers RS, Balezeau F, Hunter D, Thiele A, Griffiths TD, Petkov CI. . Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2016, 269, 46-60.
    • Thiele A, Brandt C, Dasilva M, Gotthardt S, Chicharro D, Panzeri S, Distler C. . Journal of Neuroscience 2016, 36(29), 7601-7612.
    • Tomsett RJ, Ainsworth M, Thiele A, Sanayei M, Chen X, Gieselmann MA, Whittington MA, Cunningham MO, Kaiser M. . Brain Structure and Function 2015, 220(4), 2333-2353.
    • Baumann S, Joly O, Rees A, Petkov CI, Sun L, Thiele A, Griffiths TD. . eLife 2015, 4, e03256.
    • Connolly JD, Vuong QC, Thiele A. . Cerebral Cortex 2015, 25(6), 1519-1526.
    • Wilson B, Kikuchi Y, Sun L, Hunter D, Dick F, Smith K, Thiele A, Griffiths TD, Marslen-Wilson WD, Petkov CI. . Nature Communications 2015, 6, 8901.
    • Sanayei M, Herrero JL, Distler C, Thiele A. . European Journal of Neuroscience 2015, 41(7), 949-964.
    • Chen X, Sanayei M, Thiele A. . PLoS ONE 2014, 9(10), e109604.
    • Joly O, Baumann S, Balezeau F, Thiele A, Griffiths TD. . Frontiers in Neuroscience 2014, 8, 198.
    • Joly O, Baumann S, Poirier C, Patterson RD, Thiele A, Griffiths TD. . Frontiers in Psychology 2014, 5, 998.
    • Ponce-Alvarez A, Thiele A, Albright TD, Stoner GR, Deco G. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2013, 110(32), 13162-13167.
    • Chen X, Sanayei M, Thiele A. . Journal of Vision 2013, 13(13), 22.
    • Herrero JL, Gieselmann MA, Sanayei M, Thiele A. . Neuron 2013, 78(4), 729-739.
    • Chen X, Hoffmann KP, Albright TD, Thiele A. . Journal of Neurophysiology 2012, 107(5), 1530-1543.
    • Thiele A, Herrero JL, Distler C, Hoffmann KP. . Journal of Neuroscience 2012, 32(47), 16602-16615.
    • Bartolo MJ, Gieselmann MA, Vuksanovic V, Hunter D, Sun L, Chen X, Delicato LS, Thiele A. . European Journal of Neuroscience 2011, 34(11), 1857-1870.
    • Baumann S, Griffiths TD, Sun L, Petkov CI, Thiele A, Rees A. . Nature Neuroscience 2011, 14(4), 423-425.
    • Deco G, Thiele A. . European Journal of Neuroscience 2011, 34(1), 146-157.
    • Pooresmaeili A, Herrero JL, Self MW, Roelfsema PR, Thiele A. . Journal of Neuroscience 2010, 30(38), 12745-12758.
    • Pooresmaeili A, Poort J, Thiele A, Roelfsema PR. . Journal of Neuroscience 2010, 30(38), 12701-12711.
    • Baumann S, Griffiths TD, Rees A, Hunter D, Sun L, Thiele A. . NeuroImage 2010, 50(3), 1099-1108.
    • Chalk M, Herrero JL, Gieselmann MA, Delicato LS, Gotthardt S, Thiele A. . Neuron 2010, 66(1), 114-125.
    • Thiele A, Pooresmaeili A, Delicato LS, Herrero JL, Roelfsema PR. . Cerebral Cortex 2009, 19(12), 2970-2981.
    • Roberts MJ, Thiele A. . Frontiers in Bioscience 2008, 13(10), 3742-3759.
    • Thiele A, Hoffmann K-P. . Experimental Brain Research 2008, 188(4), 559-577.
    • Gieselmann MA, Thiele A. . European Journal of Neuroscience 2008, 28(3), 447-459.
    • Roberts MJ, Thiele A. . Experimental Brain Research 2008, 187(4), 535-549.
    • Guo K, Robertson RG, Pulgarin M, Nevado A, Panzeri S, Thiele A, Young MP. . European Journal of Neuroscience 2007, 26(4), 1045-1054.
    • Roberts M, Delicato LS, Herrero J, Gieselmann MA, Thiele A. . Nature Neuroscience 2007, 10(11), 1483-1491.
    • Zinke W, Roberts MJ, Guo K, McDonald JS, Robertson R, Thiele A. . European Journal of Neuroscience 2006, 24(1), 314-328.
    • Thiele A, Delicato LS, Roberts MJ, Gieselmann MA. . Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2006, 158(2), 207-211.
    • Pola G, Petersen RS, Thiele A, Young MP, Panzeri S. . Neural Computation 2005, 17(9), 1962-2005.
    • Riecansky I, Thiele A, Distler C, Hoffmann K-P. . Experimental Brain Research 2005, 167(4), 504-525.
    • Roberts MJ, Zinke W, Guo K, Robertson R, McDonald JS, Thiele A. . Journal of Neurophysiology 2005, 93(4), 2062-2072.
    • Guo K, Nevado A, Robertson RG, Pulgarin M, Thiele A, Young MP. . Vision Research 2004, 44(20), 2349-2358.
    • Thiele A, Distler C, Korbmacher H, Hoffmann K-P. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2004, 101(26), 9810-9815.
    • Thiele A, Distler C, Korbmacher H, Hoffmann K-P. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2004, 101(26), 9810-9815.
    • Thiele A, Stoner G. . Nature 2003, 421(6921), 366-370.
    • Pola G, Thiele A, Hoffmann K-P, Panzeri S. . Network: Computation in Neural Systems 2003, 14(1), 35-60.
    • Pola G, Thiele A, Hoffmann K-P, Panzeri S. . Network: Computation in Neural Systems 2003, 14(1), 35-60.
    • Thiele A, Henning P, Kubischik M, Hoffmann KP. . Science 2002, 295(5564), 2460-2462.
    • Hoffmann KP, Bremmer F, Thiele A, Distler C. . Journal of Neurophysiology 2002, 87(4), 2113-2123.
    • Thiele A, Rezec A, Dobkins KR. . Vision Research 2002, 42(11), 1395-1401.
    • Thiele A. . Perception 2002, 31(supplement), 76-76.
    • Perrone JA, Thiele A. . Vision Research 2002, 42(8), 1035-1051.
    • Perrone JA, Thiele A. . Nature Neuroscience 2001, 4(5), 526-532.
    • Thiele A, Dobkins KR, Albright TD. . Neuron 2001, 32(2), 351-358.
    • Thiele A, Albright TD, Hoffmann KP. Effects of feature selective attention on neuronal responses in macaque area MT. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr 2001, 31, 722.2.
    • Thiele A, Dobkins KR, Albright TD. . Neuron 2000, 26(3), 715-724.
    • Dobkins KR, Thiele A, Albright TD. . Journal of the Optical Society of America (JOSA A) 2000, 17(3), 545-56.
    • Thiele A, Dobkins KR, Albright TD. . Journal of Neuroscience 1999, 19(15), 6571-6587.
    • Thiele A, Distler C, Hoffmann KP. . European Journal of Neuroscience 1999, 11(6), 2044-2058.
    • A. Thiele,K.R. Dobkins,T.D. Albright. The contribution of color to motion processing in macaque area MT. Proc.Soc.Neurosci 1998, 24.
    • A. Thiele,F. Bremmer,U.J. Ilg,K.P. Hoffmann. Visual responses of neurons from areas V1 and MT in a monkey with late onset strabismus: A case study. Vision Res 1997, 37, 853-863.
    • S. C. de Oliveira,A. Thiele,K. P. Hoffmann. Synchronization of neuronal activity during stimulus expectation in a direction discrimination task. J Neurosci 1997, 17(23), 9248-60.
    • F. Bremmer,U. J. Ilg,A. Thiele,C. Distler,K. P. Hoffmann. Eye position effects in monkey cortex. I. Visual and pursuit-related activity in extrastriate areas MT and MST. J Neurophysiol 1997, 77(2), 944-61.
    • M. Lappe,F. Bremmer,M. Pekel,A. Thiele,K.P. Hoffmann. Optic flow processing in monkey STS: A theoretical and experimental approach. Journal of Neuroscience 1996, 16, 6265-6285.
    • M. Pekel,M. Lappe,F. Bremmer,A. Thiele,K. P. Hoffmann. Neuronal responses in the motion pathway of the macaque monkey to natural optic flow stimuli. Neuroreport 1996, 7(4), 884-8.
    • Thiele A, Hoffmann KP. . Neuroreport 1996, 7(5), 971-976.
    • L. Schlykowa,K. P. Hoffmann,F. Bremmer,A. Thiele,W. H. Ehrenstein. Monkey saccadic latency and pursuit velocity show a preference for upward directions of target motion. Neuroreport 1996, 7(2), 409-12.
    • A. Thiele,R. Rubsamen,K. P. Hoffmann. Anatomical and physiological investigation of auditory input to the superior colliculus of the echolocating megachiropteran bat Rousettus aegyptiacus. Exp Brain Res 1996, 112(2), 223-36.
    • A. Thiele,M. Vogelsang,K. P. Hoffmann. Pattern of retinotectal projection in the megachiropteran bat Rousettus aegyptiacus. J Comp Neurol 1991, 314(4), 671-83.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • The PRIMatE Data Exchange (PRIME-DE) Global Collaboration Workshop and Consortium, Poirier C, Petkov C, Griffiths T, Nacef J, Balezeau F, Thiele A. . In: The PRIMatE Data Exchange (PRIME-DE) Global Collaboration Workshop and Consortium. 2020, Virtual: Elsevier.
    • Vuksanovic V, Bartolo M, Hunter D, Sun L, Thiele A. . In: BC11: Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011. 2011, Freiburg, Germany: Frontiers Media S.A.
    • Thiele A, Roberts M. . In: Advances in Cognitive Neurodynamics ICCN 2007: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Cognitive Neurodynamics. 2008, Shanghai, China: Springer.
    • Thiele A, Stoner G, Delicato LS, Roberts M. . In: 29th Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society. 2006, Kyoto, Japan: Neuroscience Research: Elsevier.
    • Delicato LS, Hunter D, Sun L, Thiele A. . In: Neuroscience 2006. 2006, Atlanta, Georgia: Society for Neuroscience.
    • Delicato L, Roberts M, Thiele A. . In: Society for Neuroscience (SFN). 2005, Washington, DC, USA.
    • Thiele A, Roberts M, Delicato L, Dayan P. . In: Society for Neuroscience (SFN). 2005, Washington, DC, USA.
    • Roberts M, Thiele A. . In: Society for Neurosciences Spring Conference. 2004, San Diego, California, USA.
    • Roberts M, Zinke W, MacDonald S, Robertson R, Guo K, Thiele A. . In: 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. 2003, New Orleans, Lousiana, USA.
    • Thiele A, Hoffmann KP, Albright TD. Effects of feature-selective attention on neuronal responses in macaque area MT. In: PERCEPTION. 2001, 207 BRONDESBURY PARK, LONDON NW2 5JN, ENGLAND: PION LTD.

  • Editorials

    • Barenghi CF, Skrbek L, Sreenivasan KR. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 2014, 111(Suppl. 1), 4647-4652.
    • Thiele A. . Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2012, 16(4), 194-195.
    • Thiele A. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2012, 109(27), 10749-10750.
    • Thiele A. . Nature Neuroscience 2009, 12(11), 1359-1360.

  • Letters

    • Mitchell AS, Thiele A, Petkov CI, Roberts A, Robbins TW, Schultz W, Lemon R. . Current Biology 2018, 28(20), R1186-R1187.
    • Herrero JL, Roberts MJ, Delicato LS, Gieselmann MA, Dayan P, Thiele A. . Nature 2008, 454(7208), 1110-1114.

  • Notes

    • Thiele A. . Neuron 2007, 53(5), 623-625.
    • Thiele A. . Current Biology 2005, 15(22), R917-R919.
    • Thiele A. . Current Biology 2004, 14(16), R671-R673.

  • Reviews

    • Thiele A, Bellgrove MA. . Neuron 2018, 97(4), 769–785.
    • Thiele A. . Annual Review of Neuroscience 2013, 36, 271-294.
    • Harris KD, Thiele A. . Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 2011, 12(9), 509 - 523.
    • Deco G, Thiele A. . European Journal of Neuroscience 2009, 30(3), 347-354.