Prof Ori Ossmy
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Overview
Overview
Biography
I am a developmental psychologist, cognitive neuroscientist, and software engineer. I earned my BSc in Computer Science/Software Engineering from Ben-Gurion University in 2010 and spent a decade developing state-of-the-art technologies at Intel and Microsoft, while completing a PhD in Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. I then moved to New York University, where I investigated motor, perceptual, and cognitive development from infancy to adulthood. Since 2021, I have been based in London, where I founded the Physical Cognition Lab within the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development. From 2024, I'm also part of the Birkbeck-UCL Centre for Educational Neuroscience.
Office hours
Please email to book an appointment.
Qualifications
- PhD in Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Israel, 2016
- MSc in Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Israel, 2012
- BSc in Computer Science, Ben Gurion University, Israel, 2010
Web profiles
Administrative responsibilities
- Head of the MSc programme in Developmental Science and Neurodiversity
- Head of the MSc Dissertation Programme
Professional activities
Developmental Science, Associate Editor
Frontiers in Cognition, Associate Editor
Brain Sciences, Topic Editor
Honours and awards
- Best Supervisor Award, Birkbeck Student Union, July 2023
- Innovative Methods Award, British Psychology Society (BPS) - Developmental Section, July 2022
- Distinguished Early Career Award, International Congress of Infants Studies (ICIS), July 2022
- David Kucharski Young Investigator Award, International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP), July 2022
- Elsevier/Vision Research Virtual Award, Vision Sciences Society, July 2021
- Postdoctoral Award, International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, July 2020
- Postdoctoral Award, NYU Faculty of Arts & Sciences, July 2019
- Early Career Travel Award, Society for Research in Child Development, July 2019
- Trainee Professional Development Award, Society for Neuroscience, July 2017
- Honor Scholarship of Scientific Research, President of the State of Israel, July 2013
ORCID
0000-0002-7675-0890 -
Research
Research
Research overview
I study how humans' physical and embodied experiences shape their cognition and behaviour across the lifespan. My work is funded by the Leverhulme Trust, UKRI Economic and Social Research Council, British Academy, Simmons Foundation, Waterloo Foundation and Wellcome Trust.
I take an integrative, interdisciplinary approach by combining perspectives (human behaviour, child development, cognitive neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and motor control), recording methods (virtual reality, eye tracking, motion tracking, EEG, fMRI, fNIRS, EMG, and video), analytic techniques (time-series analyses, computational modeling, machine learning, robotics), populations (newborns to older adults, patients, and neurodiverse populations), settings (lab, home, school), and tasks (manual or locomotor).Research clusters and groups
- Head, Physical Cognition Lab
- Member, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
- Member, Centre for Educational Neuroscience
Post doctoral staff
- Tommaso Ghilardi
- Giulia Serino
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Supervision and teaching
Supervision and teaching
Teaching
Teaching modules
- Cognitive, Affective, and Social Neuroscience (PSYC004H7)
- MSc Psychology Research Dissertation (PSYC078D7)
- Case Studies in Computational Modelling of Mind (PSYC111H7)
- Developmental Science (SCPS205H7)
- MSc Psychology Dissertation (SCPS222D7)
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Publications
Publications
Article
- Ossmy, Ori and Donati, Georgina and Kaur, A. and Sotoodeh, S. and Forrester, Gillian (2025) Towards automatic assessment of atypical early motor development?. Brain Research Bulletin 224 (111311), ISSN 0361-9230.
- Grandchamp Des Raux, Helene and Ghilardi, Tommaso and Ossmy, Ori (2025) The effects of rewards on trial-and-error learning in school-aged children. International Journal of Behavioral Development ISSN 0165-0254.
- Golmakani, S. and Kaplan, B.E. and Adolph, K.E and Ossmy, Ori (2025) Children plan manual actions similarly in structured tasks and in free play. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 250, pp. 106124. ISSN 0022-0965.
- Grandchamp Des Raux, Helene and Ghilardi, T. and Soderberg, Christina and Ossmy, Ori (2024) The role of action concepts in physical reasoning: insights from late childhood. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 379 (1911), ISSN 0962-8436.
- CHERRY, Lauren and Soderberg, Christina and Haertter, J. and Ossmy, Ori (2024) Extended reality in STEM: a modernised educational tool for children. Journal of Human Centered Technology 3 (2), pp. 10-20. ISSN 2821-3467.
- Ossmy, Ori and Han, D. and MacAlpine, P. and Hoch, J. and Stone, P. and Adolph, K. (2024) Walking and falling: using robot simulations to model the role of errors in infant walking. Developmental Science 27 (2), pp. e13449. ISSN 1363-755x.
- Hascher, S. and Shuster, Anastasia and Mukamel, R. and Ossmy, Ori (2023) The power of multivariate approach in identifying EEG correlates of interlimb coupling. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 17, ISSN 1662-5161.
- Dexter, Melissa and Ossmy, Ori (2023) The effects of typical ageing on cognitive control: recent advances and future directions. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 15, ISSN 1663-4365.
- Ossmy, Ori and Kaplan, B. and Han, D. and Xu, M. and Bianco, C. and Mukamel, R. and Adolph, K. (2022) Real-time processes in the development of action planning. Current Biology 32 (1), pp. 190-199.e3. ISSN 0960-9822.
- Ossmy, Ori and Mansano, L. and Frenkel-Toledo, S. and Kagan, E. and Koren, S. and Gilron, R. and Reznik, D. and Soroker, N. and Mukamel, R. (2022) Motor learning in hemi-Parkinson using VR-manipulated sensory feedback. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology 17 (3), pp. 349-361. ISSN 1748-3107.
- Shuster, Anastasia and Inzelberg, L. and Ossmy, Ori and Izakson, L. and Hanein, Y. and Levy, D. (2021) Lie to my face: an electromyography approach to the study of deceptive behaviour. Brain and Behavior 11 (2), pp. e2386. ISSN 2162-3279.
- Ossmy, Ori and Han, D. and Kaplan, B. and Xu, M. and Bianco, C. and Mukamel, R. and Adolph, K. (2021) Children do not distinguish efficient from inefficient actions during observation. Scientific Reports 11 (18106), ISSN 2045-2322.
- Hoch, J. and Ossmy, Ori and Cole, W. and Hasan, S. and Adolph, K. (2021) “Dancing” together: infant–mother locomotor synchrony. Child Development 92 (4), pp. 1337-1353. ISSN 0009-3920.
- Lakertz, Y. and Ossmy, Ori and Friedmann, N. and Mukamel, R. and Fried, I. (2021) Single-cell activity in human STG during perception of phonemes is organized according to manner of articulation. NeuroImage 226 (117499), ISSN 1053-8119.
- Ossmy, Ori and Adolph, K. (2020) Real-time assembly of coordination patterns in human infants. Current Biology 30 (23), pp. 4553-4562.e4. ISSN 0960-9822.
- Ossmy, Ori and Han, D. and Cheng, M. and Kaplan, B. and Adolph, K. (2019) Look before you fit: real-time planning cascade in children and adults. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 189 (104696), ISSN 0022-0965.
- Karasik, L. and Tamis-Lemonda, C. and Ossmy, Ori and Adolph, K. (2018) The ties that bind: cradling in Tajikistan. PLoS One 13 (10), pp. e0204428. ISSN 1932-6203.
- Aridan, N. and Ossmy, Ori and Buaron, B. and Reznik, D. and Mukamel, R. (2018) Suppression of EEG mu rhythm during action observation corresponds with subsequent changes in behavior. Brain Research 1691, pp. 55-63. ISSN 0006-8993.
- Ossmy, Ori and Mukamel, R. (2018) Perception as a route for motor skill learning: perspectives from neuroscience. Neuroscience 382, pp. 144-153. ISSN 0306-4522.
- Ossmy, Ori and Mukamel, R. (2018) Behavioral and neural effects of congruency of visual feedback during short-term motor learning. NeuroImage 172, pp. 864-873. ISSN 1053-8119.
- Ossmy, Ori and Hoch, J. and MacAlpine, P. and Hasan, S. and Stone, P. and Adolph, K. (2018) Variety wins: soccer-playing robots and infant walking. Frontiers in Neurorobotics 12, ISSN 1662-5218.
- Ossmy, Ori and Mukamel, R. (2017) Using Virtual Reality to transfer motor skill knowledge from one hand to another. Journal of Visualized Experiments ISSN 1940-087X.
- Ossmy, Ori and Mukamel, R. (2017) Short-term motor-skill acquisition improves with size of self-controlled virtual hands. PLoS One 12 (1), pp. e0168520. ISSN 1932-6203.
- Ossmy, Ori and Mukamel, R. (2016) Neural network underlying intermanual skill transfer in humans. Cell Reports 17 (11), pp. 2891-2900. ISSN 2211-1247.
- Ossmy, Ori and Mukamel, R. (2016) Activity in superior parietal cortex during training by observation predicts asymmetric learning levels across hands. Scientific Reports 6 (32133), ISSN 2045-2322.
- Ossmy, Ori and Fried, I. and Mukamel, R. (2015) Decoding speech perception from single-cell activity in humans. NeuroImage 117, pp. 151-159. ISSN 1053-8119.
- Reznik, D. and Ossmy, Ori and Mukamel, R. (2015) Enhanced auditory evoked activity to self-generated sounds is mediated by primary and supplementary motor cortices. The Journal of Neuroscience 35 (5), pp. 2173-2180. ISSN 0270-6474.
- Ossmy, Ori and Ben-Shachar, M. and Mukamel, R. (2014) Decoding letter position in word reading. Cortex 59, pp. 74-83. ISSN 0010-9452.
- Ossmy, Ori and Moran, R. and Pfeffer, T. and Tsetsos, Konstantinos and Usher, Marius and Donner, T.H. (2013) The timescale of perceptual evidence integration can be adapted to the environment. Current Biology 23 (11), pp. 981-986. ISSN 0960-9822.
Book Section
- Muszynska, Marianna and Ossmy, Ori (2024) The BlockQuest game: digital behavioral phenotyping of ADHD using embodied serious game in virtual reality. In: Plass, J.L. and Ochoa, X. (eds.) Serious Games: 10th Joint International Conference, JCSG 2024, New York City, NY, USA, November 7–8, 2024, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer. pp. 455-462. ISBN 9783031741371.
- Cherry, Lauren and Cheng, M. and Ghilardi, T. and Ossmy, Ori (2024) Automatic real-time hand tracking enhances adolescents’ spatial skills by eliminating haptic feedback. In: 2024 IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL). IEEE. ISBN 9798350348569.
- Han, D. and Aziere, N. and Wang, T. and Ossmy, Ori and Krishna, A. and Wang, H. and Shen, R. and Todorovic, S. and Adolph, K. (2024) Infants’ developing environment: integration of computer vision and human annotation to quantify where infants go, what they touch, and what they see. In: 2024 IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL). IEEE. ISBN 9798350348569.
- Krishna, A. and Kaplan, B. and Pope, J. and Todorovic, S. and Adolph, K. and Ossmy, Ori (2024) A computer-vision approach for testing developmental changes in object manipulation. In: 2024 IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL). IEEE. ISBN 9798350348569.
- Le, H. and Hoch, J. and Ossmy, Ori and Adolph, K. and Fern, X. and Fern, A. (2021) Modeling infant free play using hidden Markov Models. In: 2021 IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL). IEEE. ISBN 9781728162430.
- Ossmy, Ori and Mansano L, L. and Frenkel-Toledo, S. and Kagan, E. and Koren, S. and Gilron, R. and Reznik, D. and Soroker, N. and Mukamel, R. (2020) Motor learning by cross education in HemiParkinson: a neuroimaging feasibility study of the effects of virtual mirrored sensory feedback. In: 2019 International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation (ICVR). IEEE. ISBN 9781728112862.
- Adolph, K. and Hoch, J. and Ossmy, Ori (2019) James Gibson’s ecological approach to locomotion and manipulation. In: Wagman, J.B. and Blau, J.J.C. (eds.) Perception as Information Detection: Reflections on Gibson’s Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Resources for Ecological Psychology Series. Taylor & Francis. pp. 222-236. ISBN 9780429316128.
- Ossmy, Ori and Gilmore, R. and Adolph, K. (2019) AutoViDev: a computer-vision framework to enhance and accelerate research in human development. In: Arai, K. and Kapoor, S. (eds.) Advances in Computer Vision: Proceedings of the 2019 Computer Vision Conference (CVC). Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing. Springer. pp. 147-156. ISBN 9783030177973.
- Ossmy, Ori and Tam, O. and Puzis, R. and Rokach, L. and Inbar, O. and Elovici, Y. (2011) MindDesktop - computer accessibility for severely handicapped. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems. SciTePress. pp. 316-320. ISBN 9789898425560.
Conference Item
- Hascher, Sophie and Ossmy, Ori and Pontes, Halley (2024) The application of serious games in virtual reality as intervention for sugar addiction. Serious Games - 10th Joint International Conference, JCSG 2024, 2024, New York, U.S.
Monograph
- Muszynska, Marianna and Ossmy, Ori (2025) A multivariate analysis reveals benefits of specific ADHD characteristics in trial-and-error learning. PsyArxiv arXiv.
- Muszynska, Marianna and Varma, Reeshu and Ossmy, Ori (2025) Beyond diagnosis: why and how virtual reality should be used in research on neurodevelopmental conditions?. PsyArxiv arXiv.
- Hancock, Lucy and Ossmy, Ori (2024) Using data-driven approach to test the link between physical activity and cognitive skills during aging. PsyArxiv arXiv.
- Ghilardi, T. and Ossmy, Ori (2024) A pupil-dilation technique to test developmental differences in visual synchrony during free viewing. PsyArxiv arXiv.
- Ossmy, Ori and Han, D. and Cheng, M. and Bianco, C. and Kaplan, B. and Adolph, K. (2022) First “Where” and then “How”: developmental processes in exploring solutions to problems with hidden demands. PsyArxiv arXiv.
- Ossmy, Ori and Mukamel, R. (2020) Defining functional brain networks using unsupervised density-peak clustering. PsyArxiv arXiv.
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Business and community
Business and community
Outreach
CBS News: US President Barack Obama meets MindDesktop
BBC: Brain Hacks: How I rewired my brain in six weeks
BBC REEL: Why we're still smarter than machines
Daily Express: New study reveals your left hand DOES know what your right is doing
SAI: Robots can learn walking from motor actions of infants?
New Scientist: The way toddlers waddle can teach robot footballers how to play
MIT Technology Review: General-purpose brain-computer interface brings thought control to any PC
Medical Daily: Students develop thought-controlled, hands-free computer for the disabled
Innovators Magazine: VR could improve mobility of physically impaired
The Jerusalem Post: New Israeli virtual reality tech could rehabilitate damaged limbs, stroke patients
Haaretz: Scientists Harness Virtual Reality to Teach Damaged Limbs New Tricks
Science Daily: Students develop thought-controlled, hands-free computer for the disabled
VICE News: Controlling computers with our mind is getting easier…slowly
The Free Press Journal: Virtual reality may help restore movement in damaged limbs
Science Daily: Your left hand knows what your right hand is doing
The Jerusalem Post: BGU may help disabled use computers with thoughts