Xing Chen

The Chen lab develops high-channel-count, chronically implantable devices to record from and stimulate the brain. We harness cutting-edge developments in electrode fabrication and microelectronics to improve probe durability and biocompatibility, generating fundamental neuroscientific knowledge and translating results from the lab to the clinic.

  • (2021) Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Brain Award for Scientific Excellence.
  • (2019) SfN ‘Hot Topic’ Poster.
  • (2018) Amsterdam Neuroscience Meeting Best Poster Award.

  • PhD, Newcastle University
  • BA, University of Southern California

  • Hughes, C., Chen, X., Grill, W., & Kozai, T.D.Y. (2026). Neural mechanisms underlying intracortical microstimulation for sensory restoration. Nat Biomed Eng, 10(2), 197-213.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1038/s41551-025-01583-6.
  • Kozai, T.D.Y., Hooks, B.M., Vazquez, A.L., Gharbawie, O.A., Huang, C., Graczyk, E., Smith, M.A., Taylor, D.M., Hernandez-Reynoso, A.G., London, A.J., Ford, P.J., Anderson, E.P., Chen, X., Flick, A.I., Parker, L.S., & Gaunt, R.A. (2026). Solving the problem of inception: a cross-species perspective on strategies for a mechanistic refinement of intracortical microstimulation. J Neural Eng, 23(2).IOP Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ae54cf.
  • Lozano, A., Chen, X., La Grouw, M., Li, B., Wang, F., van der Grinten, M., Soto-Sánchez, C., Morales-Gregorio, A., Fernández, E., & Roelfsema, P.R. (2026). Large-scale mapping of artificial perceptions for neuroprostheses using spontaneous neuronal activity in macaque and human visual cortex. Brain Stimul, 19(1), 103019.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2025.103019.
  • Cheng, Y.A., Sanayei, M., Chen, X., Jia, K., Li, S., Fang, F., Watanabe, T., Thiele, A., & Zhang, R.Y. (2025). A neural geometry approach comprehensively explains apparently conflicting models of visual perceptual learning. Nat Hum Behav, 9(5), 1023-1040.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1038/s41562-025-02149-x.
  • Forrest, A.M., Kunigk, N.G., Collinger, J.L., Gaunt, R.A., Chen, X., Vande Geest, J.P., & Kozai, T.D.Y. (2025). Finite element model predicts micromotion-induced strain profiles that correlate with the functional performance of Utah arrays in humans and non-human primates. J Neural Eng, 22(6).IOP Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ae1bda.
  • Thiele, A., Chen, X., Sanayei, M., Chicharro, D., Distler, C., & Panzeri, S. (2024). Perceptual Learning of Fine Contrast Discrimination Under Non-roving, Roving-Without-Flanker, and Roving-with-Flanker Conditions and its Relation to Neuronal Activity in Macaque V1. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 8(4), 308-333.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/s41465-024-00298-x.
  • Wang, F., Chen, X., & Roelfsema, P.R. (2024). Comparison of electrical microstimulation artifact removal methods for high-channel-count prostheses. J Neurosci Methods, 408, 110169.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2024.110169.
  • Chen, X., Wang, F., Kooijmans, R., Klink, P.C., Boehler, C., Asplund, M., & Roelfsema, P.R. (2023). Chronic stability of a neuroprosthesis comprising multiple adjacent Utah arrays in monkeys. J Neural Eng, 20(3), 036039.IOP Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ace07e.
  • Papale, P., Wang, F., Morgan, A.T., Chen, X., Gilhuis, A., Petro, L.S., Muckli, L., Roelfsema, P.R., & Self, M.W. (2023). The representation of occluded image regions in area V1 of monkeys and humans. Curr Biol, 33(18), 3865-3871.e3.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.08.010.
  • Chen, X., Morales-Gregorio, A., Sprenger, J., Kleinjohann, A., Sridhar, S., van Albada, S.J., Grün, S., & Roelfsema, P.R. (2022). 1024-channel electrophysiological recordings in macaque V1 and V4 during resting state. Sci Data, 9(1), 77.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1038/s41597-022-01180-1.
  • van Velthoven, E.A.M., van Stuijvenberg, O.C., Haselager, D.R.E., Broekman, M., Chen, X., Roelfsema, P., Bredenoord, A.L., & Jongsma, K.R. (2022). Ethical implications of visual neuroprostheses-a systematic review. J Neural Eng, 19(2).IOP Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac65b2.
  • Fernández, E., Alfaro, A., Soto-Sánchez, C., Gonzalez-Lopez, P., Lozano, A.M., Peña, S., Grima, M.D., Rodil, A., Gómez, B., Chen, X., Roelfsema, P.R., Rolston, J.D., Davis, T.S., & Normann, R.A. (2021). Visual percepts evoked with an intracortical 96-channel microelectrode array inserted in human occipital cortex. J Clin Invest, 131(23).American Society for Clinical Investigation. doi: 10.1172/JCI151331.
  • Klink, P.C., Chen, X., Vanduffel, W., & Roelfsema, P.R. (2021). Population receptive fields in nonhuman primates from whole-brain fMRI and large-scale neurophysiology in visual cortex. Elife, 10.eLife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.67304.
  • Chen, X., Wang, F., Fernandez, E., & Roelfsema, P.R. (2020). Shape perception via a high-channel-count neuroprosthesis in monkey visual cortex. Science, 370(6521), 1191-1196.American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). doi: 10.1126/science.abd7435.
  • Gilson, M., Tauste Campo, A., Chen, X., Thiele, A., & Deco, G. (2018). Nonparametric test for connectivity detection in multivariate autoregressive networks and application to multiunit activity data. Netw Neurosci, 1(4), 357-380.MIT Press. doi: 10.1162/NETN_a_00019.
  • Sanayei, M., Chen, X., Chicharro, D., Distler, C., Panzeri, S., & Thiele, A. (2018). Perceptual learning of fine contrast discrimination changes neuronal tuning and population coding in macaque V4. Nat Commun, 9(1), 4238.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06698-w.
  • Chen, X., Possel, J.K., Wacongne, C., van Ham, A.F., Klink, P.C., & Roelfsema, P.R. (2017). 3D printing and modelling of customized implants and surgical guides for non-human primates. J Neurosci Methods, 286, 38-55.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2017.05.013.
  • Tomsett, R.J., Ainsworth, M., Thiele, A., Sanayei, M., Chen, X., Gieselmann, M.A., Whittington, M.A., Cunningham, M.O., & Kaiser, M. (2015). Virtual Electrode Recording Tool for EXtracellular potentials (VERTEX): comparing multi-electrode recordings from simulated and biological mammalian cortical tissue. Brain Struct Funct, 220(4), 2333-2353.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/s00429-014-0793-x.
  • Chen, X., Sanayei, M., & Thiele, A. (2014). Stimulus roving and flankers affect perceptual learning of contrast discrimination in Macaca mulatta. In Chelazzi, L. (Ed.). PLoS One, 9(10), e109604.Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109604.
  • Chen, X., Sanayei, M., & Thiele, A. (2013). Perceptual learning of contrast discrimination in macaca mulatta. J Vis, 13(13), 22.Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). doi: 10.1167/13.13.22.
  • Chen, X., Hoffmann, K.P., Albright, T.D., & Thiele, A. (2012). Effect of feature-selective attention on neuronal responses in macaque area MT. J Neurophysiol, 107(5), 1530-1543.American Physiological Society. doi: 10.1152/jn.01042.2010.
  • Bartolo, M.J., Gieselmann, M.A., Vuksanovic, V., Hunter, D., Sun, L., Chen, X., Delicato, L.S., & Thiele, A. (2011). Stimulus-induced dissociation of neuronal firing rates and local field potential gamma power and its relationship to the resonance blood oxygen level-dependent signal in macaque primary visual cortex. Eur J Neurosci, 34(11), 1857-1870.Wiley. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2011.07877.x.
Research Interests
Neurosciences Biomedical engineering Cognitive and computational psychology Biological psychology
headshot of Xing Chen
Contact Xing Chen
Assistant Professor
Website
Bioengineering Department
x.chen@pitt.edu