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My research is focused on the principles underlying brain organization and neuroplasticity, with particular emphasis on the neural basis of conceptual knowledge and how network dynamics shape cognitive processing. I'm also interested in how neuroplasticity impacts cognitive systems across different contexts, such as sensory deprivation (e.g., deafness or blindness) and aging. To explore these complex relationships, I use a multimodal approach combining fMRI, neuromodulation techniques, neuropsychological assessment, and behavioral analyses. My work aims to advance our understanding of how the brain adapts structurally and functionally to diverse cognitive demands and sensory experiences.
Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Lénia Amaral

Citation names

  • Amaral, Lénia

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
871C-798A-088A
ORCID iD
0000-0002-0631-7944

Websites

Knowledge fields

  • Medical and Health Sciences - Basic Medicine - Neurosciences
  • Social Sciences - Psychology

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Advanced (C1) Proficiency (C2) Advanced (C1) Proficiency (C2) Advanced (C1)
Portuguese gestual language Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1)
Education
Degree Classification
2017/07 - 2022/03
Concluded
Psicologia (Doutoramento)
Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Portugal
"Uncovering the interaction between hands and tools: are these categories dissociable" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
Approved with praise and distinction
2020 - 2020
Concluded
Multivariate pattern analyses of electroencephalography data – Theory and Practice (Postgraduate Certificate)
Universidad de Granada, Spain
N/A
2018 - 2018
Concluded
Spinoza fMRI Course (Postgraduate Certificate)
Spinozacentrum voor Neuroimaging, Netherlands
N/A
2009 - 2014
Concluded
Mestrado Integrado em Psicologia (Mestrado integrado)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
"Volumetric analysis of cortical and subcortical regions in congenital deafness" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
16/20
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution
Employer
2024/11 - Current Invited Auxiliary Researcher (Research) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Portugal
2022 - 2024 Postdoc (Research) Georgetown University, United States
2015 - 2017 Research Assistant (Research) Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Investigação em Neuropsicologia e Intervenção Cognitivo-Comportamental, Portugal

Teaching in Higher Education

Category
Host institution
Employer
2019 - 2022 Invited Assistant Professor (University Teacher) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Portugal

Others

Category
Host institution
Employer
2017 - 2022 PhD Fellow Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Portugal
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2021/10 - 2022/07 SeeingEars - Seeing with your ears: how does neuroplasticity due to congenital deafness interfere with neuronal processing and auditory rehabilitation strategies
PTDC/PSI-GER/30757/2017
Researcher
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
2017/07 - 2021/09 PhD individual fellowship
SFRH/BD/114811/2016
Principal investigator
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
Concluded
2016 - 2019 What defines an affordance? The diagnosticity of visual features for the differentiation of affordances
PTDC/MHC-PCN/6805/2014
Researcher
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
Concluded
2015 - 2018 Episodic memory enhancement in aging: the role of cognitive training combined with (bilateral) tDCS in the medial-temporal cortex and cerebellum on episodic memory performance in the elderly
Bial Grant 2014/495
Researcher
Fundação Bial
Concluded
2015 - 2017 R&D project of the Cognitive and Behavioral Center for Research and Intervention - CINEICC
UID/PSI/00730/2013
Researcher
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Conference abstract
  1. Amaral, Lénia; Thomas, P.; Amir Amedi; Ella Striem-Amit. Corresponding author: Amaral, Lénia. "Stable individual plasticity patterns in blindness: a longitudinal study". Paper presented in Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting, 2024.
    Published • 10.1167/jov.24.10.290
  2. L. Amaral; A. Martins; J. Alves; F. Fernandes; F. Fregni; M. Simis; J. Almeida; M. Simões. "Memory enhancement in aging - the role of cognitive training combined with tDCS: Preliminary results". Paper presented in 2nd International Brain Stimulation Conference, Barcelona, 2017.
    Published • 10.1016/j.brs.2017.01.216
Conference poster
  1. Baião, Miguel; Amaral, Lénia; Almeida, Jorge; Besson, Gabriel. "Tools under the electroencephaloscope: Towards a unified picture of the neural time course of visual tool processing". Paper presented in ESCoP 2023 - 23rd Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology, 2023.
  2. Amaral, Lénia; Wang, X.; Bi, Y.; Ella Striem-Amit. Corresponding author: Amaral, Lénia. "The idiosyncratic nature of neuroplasticity: investigating the impact of congenital deafness on individual brain organization". Paper presented in SfN Annual Meeting, 2023.
  3. Amaral, Lénia; Bergström, Fredrik; Almeida, Jorge. "How can category-preferences dictate the way two brain regions functionally connect?". Paper presented in Columbia-Mount Sinai Brain Symposium, 2021.
  4. Amaral, Lénia; Bergström, Fredrik; Almeida, Jorge. "Local overlap but distal specificity: connectivity-constraints dissociate hand and tool processing networks". Paper presented in FENS 2020 Virtual Forum, 2020.
  5. Amaral, L.; Garcea, F. E.; Aguiar de Sousa, D.; Xu, S.; Mahon, B.Z.; Martins, I.P.; Almeida, J.. "Interactions between dorsal and ventral stream in visuomotor processing". Paper presented in Workshop on Concepts, Actions, and Objects – Functional and Neural Perspectives. Rovereto, Italy., 2018.
  6. Amaral, L.; Martins, A.R.; Alves, J.; Fernandes, F.; Fregni, F.; Simis, M.; Silva, A.R.; Almeida, J.; Simões, M.R.. "Episodic memory enhancement in aging". Paper presented in Bial Foundation 12th Symposium. Porto, Portugal., 2018.
  7. Bergström, Fredrik; Martins, Ana R.; Almeida, Jorge; Amaral, Lénia; Freixo, Andreia; Ganho-Ávila, Ana; Kristensen, Stephanie; et al. "Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) effects on object-selective neural responses in the inferior parietal lobe". Paper presented in Concepts, Actions, and Objects (CAOS), Rovereto, 2018.
Journal article
  1. Lenia Amaral; Xiaosha Wang; Yanchao Bi; Ella Striem-Amit. "Unraveling the impact of congenital deafness on individual brain organization". eLife (2025): https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.96944.4.
    10.7554/eLife.96944.4
  2. Lénia Amaral; Peyton Thomas; Amir Amedi; Ella Striem-Amit. "Longitudinal stability of individual brain plasticity patterns in blindness". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024): https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2320251121.
    10.1073/pnas.2320251121
  3. Michaela Ruttorf; Zohar Tal; Lénia Amaral; Fang Fang; Yanchao Bi; Jorge Almeida. "Neuroplastic changes in functional wiring in sensory cortices of the congenitally deaf: A network analysis". Human Brain Mapping (2023): https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26530.
    10.1002/hbm.26530
  4. Jorge Almeida; Ana R. Martins; Lénia Amaral; Daniela Valério; Qasim Bukhari; Guilherme Schu; Joana Nogueira; et al. "The cerebellum is causally involved in episodic memory under aging". GeroScience (2023): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00738-0.
    10.1007/s11357-023-00738-0
  5. Amaral, Lénia; Besson, Gabriel; Caparelli-Dáquer, Egas; Bergström, Fredrik; Almeida, Jorge. "Spatial overlap, but temporal specificity: temporal differences and commonalities between hand and tool processing". Scientific Reports 13 22270 (2023): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-48180-8.
    10.1038/s41598-023-48180-8
  6. Lénia Amaral; Rita Donato; Daniela Valério; Egas Caparelli-Dáquer; Jorge Almeida; Fredrik Bergström. "Disentangling hand and tool processing: Distal effects of neuromodulation". Cortex 157 (2022): 142-154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2022.08.011.
    10.1016/j.cortex.2022.08.011
  7. Lénia Amaral; Fredrik Bergström; Jorge Almeida. "Overlapping but distinct: Distal connectivity dissociates hand and tool processing networks". Cortex 140 (2021): 1-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2021.03.011.
    10.1016/j.cortex.2021.03.011
  8. Jorge Almeida; Lénia Amaral; Frank E. Garcea; Diana Aguiar de Sousa; Shan Xu; Bradford Z. Mahon; Isabel Pavão Martins. "Visual and visuomotor processing of hands and tools as a case study of cross talk between the dorsal and ventral streams". Cognitive Neuropsychology (2018): 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643294.2018.1463980.
    10.1080/02643294.2018.1463980
  9. Almeida J; Nunes G; Marques JF; Amaral L. "Compensatory plasticity in the congenitally deaf for visual tasks is restricted to the horizontal plane.". Journal of experimental psychology. General (2018): http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/29888942.
    10.1037/xge0000447
  10. Almeida, J.; Martins, A.R.; Bergström, F.; Amaral, L.; Freixo, A.; Ganho-Ávila, A.; Kristensen, S.; et al. "Polarity-specific transcranial direct current stimulation effects on object-selective neural responses in the inferior parietal lobe". Cortex 94 (2017): 176-181. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85026438161&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1016/j.cortex.2017.07.001
  11. Amaral, L.; Ganho-Ávila, A.; Osório, A.; Soares, M.J.; He, D.; Chen, Q.; Mahon, B.Z.; et al. "Hemispheric asymmetries in subcortical visual and auditory relay structures in congenital deafness". European Journal of Neuroscience 44 6 (2016): 2334-2339. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84987811127&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1111/ejn.13340
  12. Lénia Amaral; Jorge Almeida. "Neuroplasticity in congenitally deaf humans". Revista Portuguesa de Psicologia 44 (2015): 39-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.21631/rpp44_39.
    10.21631/rpp44_39
Preprint
  1. Florencia Martinez-Addiego; Yuqi Liu; Kyungji Moon; Elizabeth Shytle; Lénia Amaral; Caroline O'Brien; Sriparna Sen; et al. "Tool-use brain representations are independent of the acting body part and motor experience". 2025. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.22.634305.
    10.1101/2025.01.22.634305
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2024 Exploring individual differences in people born blind or deaf (invited talk)
Bedny Lab, Johns Hopkins University
2024 Accessibility in Vision Science (invited talk) Enhancing Accessibility Workshop
VSS Annual Meeting
2024 Individual connectivity patterns in congenitally blind individuals (invited talk)
Hebart Lab, Max Planck Institute Leipzig
2022 Using neuromodulation to dissociate overlapping networks International APPE-SEPEX Meeting
(Faro, Portugal)
2021 What connects hands and tools? - relating category preferences to functional connectivity preferences 15th Annual meeting of the Portuguese Association of Experimental Psychology. Online meeting.
(Portugal)
2017 Memory enhancement in aging - the role of cognitive training combined with tDCS: preliminary neuroimaging results
12th Annual meeting of the Portuguese Association of Experimental Psychology (Porto, Portugal)
2016 Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Mild Cognitive Impairment - protocol for a clinical trial (invited talk) Seminário Científico Terapias Não-Farmacológicas na Doença de Alzheimer e Outras Perturbações Neurológicas: Evidência Presente e Futuro
(Braga, Portugal)
2015 Volumetric analysis of cortical and subcortical regions in congenital deafness 10th Annual meeting of the Portuguese Association of Experimental Psychology
(Faro, Portugal)

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role)
Institution / Organization
2024 - 2024 Postdoctoral Research Symposium (2024/04/25 - 2024/04/25)
Symposium (Member of the Organising Committee)
Georgetown University, United States
2023 - 2024 A series of webinars focused on Health Innovation: Cell Therapies for Cancer, Frontiers in Aging: Principles of Longevity, and AI in Drug Discovery: Present and Future. (2024/04 - 2024/05)
Round table (Member of the Organising Committee)
The Non-Conformist Scientist, United States

LisbonPH, Portugal
2023 - 2024 A series of webinars focused on Career Paths: Academia & Industry; Medical Writing, MSL and Consultancy. (2024/04 - 2024/05)
Round table (Member of the Organising Committee)
The Non-Conformist Scientist, United States
2023 - 2023 National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week (2023/09/18 - 2023/09/22)
Festival (Member of the Organising Committee)
Georgetown University, United States
2020/09 - 2021/06 Global Science Festival (2021/05)
Festival (Member of the Organising Committee)
Pint of Science, Portugal
2017/07 - 2017/11 PsihD - 1st Psychology PhD Exhibition (2017/11)
Call (Member of the Organising Committee)
Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Portugal

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event
Event name
Institution / Organization
2025/02 - 2025/02 I visited the Escola Secundária José Falcão in Coimbra to share insights about cognitive neuroscience, brain plasticity, and neuro myths Neuroscience goes to school
Universidade de Coimbra - Proaction Lab, Portugal
2024/08 - 2024/08 Community workshop about independent research for prospective students
Workshop
How To Secure Research Opportunities
BranchOut!, United States
2021/11 - 2021/11 Online lecture and debate where students can learn about neuroscience research and jobs
Exhibition
Brain Gain event
2021/04 - 2021/10 Outreach platform for promoting women in science
Exhibition
Soapbox Science Lisbon
2021/09 - 2021/09 Educational games about the visual processing of objects for the general public
Festival
European Researchers' Night 2021
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2021/03 - 2021/03 Activities for children to learn about the brain regions and the cognitive functions associated with these regions
Exhibition
Brain Awareness Week
Federation of European Neuroscience Societies, Belgium

Universidade de Coimbra - Proaction Lab, Portugal
2020/09 - 2020/09 Live online activity in which researchers addressed unique questions about the brain from children
Festival
European Researchers' Night 2020
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2019/09 - 2019/09 Hands-on activities about the brain and visual perception for the general public
Festival
European Researchers' Night 2019
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal

Association member

Society Organization name Role
2024 - Current Vision Sciences Society Member
2023 - Current Society for Neuroscience Member
2021 - Current Portuguese Association of Experimental Psychology Member
2022 - 2024 New York Academy of Sciences Member
2022 - 2024 National Postdoctoral Association, USA Member

Course / Discipline taught

Academic session Degree Subject (Type) Institution / Organization
2024/11 - 2025/01 Music Perception and Cognition (Mestrado) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia, Portugal
2021/09 - 2022/02 Cognitive Neuroscience (Licenciatura) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Portugal
2019 - 2021 Neuropsychology (Licenciatura) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Portugal
2019 - 2021 Behavioral Neuroscience (Licenciatura) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Portugal
2020/12 - 2020/12 Physiology and Neurobehavioral Pathophysiology (Postgraduate Certificate) Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Brazil
2020/09 - 2020/09 Scientific Research Methodologies – Summer Course (Outros) Universidade de Coimbra Instituto de Investigação Interdisciplinar, Portugal

Interview (tv / radio show)

Program Topic
2020/07 - 2020/07 90 Segundos de Ciência How does our brain tell the difference between a hand and a tool?
2020/02 - 2020/02 Rádio Universidade de Coimbra - Ciência aos Domingos Research work

Journal scientific committee

Journal title (ISSN) Publisher
2025 - Current NeuroImage Elsevier

Mentoring / Tutoring

Topic Student name
2022 - 2024 Mapping tool grasp in people born without hands Naama Zur (PhD student)
2022 - 2024 Mapping tool use in people born without hands Florencia Martinez Addiego (PhD student)
2020 - 2021 Neuromodulation effects on conceptual representations Francisco Forte (Master's student)
2018 - 2020 Neural correlates of object recognition Sara Ferreira (Master's student)
2016 - 2018 Memory enhancement in aging Mónica Spínola (Master's student)
Distinctions

Award

2024 FoVea Travel and Networking Award
Females of Vision et al. (FoVea), United States

Other distinction

2023 Seal of Excellence awarded to project proposal submitted under HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01 call
Horizon Europe, Belgium
2017 PhD studentship
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal