We are a multidisciplinary team dedicated to the study of sleep, dreams, and memory. Our team comprises professionals from diverse backgrounds and experiences, collaborating to deepen knowledge in these areas.
Meet our team members!
MAIN RESEARCHER
Sidarta Tollendal Ribeiro
Areas of Interest: Sleep, dreams, and memory; Cannabis and drug policy; Psychedelics; Neuroscience applied to education; Immediate-early genes and neuronal plasticity; Neurocomputational psychiatry.
Description: Sidarta is a full professor and one of the founders of the Brain Institute at UFRN, as well as a researcher at CEE-Fiocruz. He is the author of more than 100 scientific articles and six books, including his most recent, As Flores do Bem (Fósforo). Currently, he is a columnist for Sumaúma – Journalism from the Center of the World.
DOCTORATE
Mizziara Marlen Matias de Paiva
Areas of Interest: Animal behavior, neuroplasticity, sleep, memory, and learning.
Description: Mizziara de Paiva (@mizziara) is an Environmental Manager (IFRN), Biologist from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), and holds a master’s degree while currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Memory, Sleep, and Dreams Laboratory of the Brain Institute (PGNeuro/UFRN). Her research aims to investigate and provide a detailed description, through comprehensive behavioral quantification, of the learning processes of the species Octopus insularis. The study explores potential relationships with sleep episodes and the animal’s life stages. The research is supervised by Prof. Dr. Sidarta Ribeiro (UFRN) and Prof. Dr. Tatiana Leite (UFSC).
Description: Bachelor in Physical Education and Sports (2000) and Master in Human Movement Sciences (2005) from the State University of Santa Catarina (UDESC). Specialist in Technologies and Distance Education (2011) from the University of Contestado (UnC). Currently a Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience and an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Education at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). He has extensive experience in the fields of Physical Education, Motor Behavior, Psychomotricity, Ludomotricity, Gerontomotricity, Psychomotor Assessment, and Distance Education.
Areas of Interest: Neuroscience and states of consciousness; Sleep and dreams; Ecology; Psychedelics; Neurodevelopment.
Description: Educational Affairs Technician at the Federal University of Amapá, Eric holds a degree in Geography (Bachelor’s and Teaching Licensure), a master’s degree in Tropical Biodiversity (Ecology and Environment), and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Brain Institute (ICe-UFRN). His research focuses on the neural correlates of lucid dreams, utilizing techniques such as EEG (electroencephalogram), EOG (electrooculogram), and EMG (electromyogram).
MASTERS
Mariana Muniz
Areas of Interest: Psychiatry, enactivism, drugs, and neuroscience
Description: Medical Doctor (USP-RP), Psychiatrist (HSPE – IASMPE), and Master’s student in Neuroscience (ICe – UFRN). Her diverse journey in medicine, which included infectious diseases, internal medicine, and visual arts, led her to Humanistic Psychiatry. In her pursuit to deepen her understanding of psychopathology, she is dedicating her master’s studies to Neuroscience, where she investigates the effects of currently proscribed substances (cannabinoids and psilocybin) in survey and clinical trial contexts.
Description: Executive Director of the Anandamida Institute, medical acupuncturist, and postgraduate specialist in Pain Management (IEFS). He is pursuing a master’s degree in Neuroscience at ICe-UFRN. Since 2014, he has been researching and prescribing medical cannabis, and since 2016, he has been focused on the study of psychedelics. He is also a professor and coordinator of the courses “Medical Cannabis: Updates and Prescription – Editions 1 and 2” and “Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelics in Mental Health,” offered by Manole Publishing in partnership with the Anandamida Institute. He is the author and editor of the Medical Cannabis Prescription Guide.
Flora Assaf de Sousa
Areas of Interest: Sleep and learning.
A teacher studying the relationship between sleep and learning in children during their literacy process.
Gabriel Augusto Baptista Cunha
Areas of Interest: Behavioral psychology, clinical psychology, neuroscience, consciousness, emotions.
Description: Holds a degree in Psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (2023), with an emphasis on “Health Practices.” Has experience in Historical-Cultural Neuropsychology, Clinical Psychology with a focus on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Sleep Psychology, and Cognitive Neuroscience. Currently pursuing a master’s degree in the Neuroscience Graduate Program (PGNeuro) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) through the Brain Institute (2024). His research focuses on the relationship between emotions, sleep, and dreams in the context of electronic games.
Tainá Carla Freitas de Macêdo
Areas of Interest: Sleep; dreams; lucid dreams; emotional regulation.
Description: Bachelor in Psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. Currently a master’s student at the Brain Institute, working in the Behavioral Endocrinology and Sleep, Dreams, and Memory Laboratories. Her research focuses on the relationship between dreams and emotional regulation. She is particularly interested in lucid dreams and parasomnias.
Supervision: Maria Bernardete Cordeiro de Sousa
Co-supervision: Sidarta Tollendal Ribeiro
Areas of Interest: REM sleep, dreams, lucid dreams, psychedelics, drugs, consciousness, psychology, psychopharmacology, harm reduction.
Description: Psychologist (CRP-17/6743), harm reductionist, member of the State Council on Public Drug Policies (CONED-RN) in Natal/RN, collaborator with the Human Rights Commission of CRP-17, Master’s student in Psychobiology at UFRN, and researcher at the Brain Institute, where she conducts research on dreams and psychedelics.
UNDERGRADUATE
Thiago Fernandes Pinheiro de Medeiros Rodrigues
Areas of Interest: Natural Language Processing (NLP), graph theory, neuroscience, data science, machine learning.
Descrição: I’m a computer engineering student and machine learning engineer. My research involves using texts as a key to better understanding the human mind. My interests include natural language processing (NLP), graph theory, neuroscience, signal processing, data science, machine learning and computer vision.
Clarice Alves Costa Oliveira
Areas of Interest: Neurocinema, audiovisual editing and post-production, cinematography, scientific communication.
Description: Undergraduate student in Audiovisual Communication at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). She’s part of the Communication Department (COMUNICA), linked to the Pró-Reitoria de Gestão em Pessoas (PROGESP), and work as a scientific initiation scholarship holder in the Sleep, Dreams, and Memory Lab. her work focuses on content production, filming, editing, and providing support. I have directed two short films and a documentary, in addition to completing courses in Main Directing, Content Production for Social Media, and 2D Animation at the Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN).
Avi Jennings Gandhimohan
Areas of Interest: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Neuropsychology, Psychedelic-Assisted Psychology, Linguistics, Animal Behavior, Neuroscience.
Description: I am an undergraduate Psychology student, currently interning at a clinic as a cognitive-behavioral therapist. I have a strong interest in several areas of Neuroscience, both out of curiosity and to integrate potential knowledge into my clinical practice.
Caian Matos de Oliveira
Areas of Interest: Neurophysiology, neurocognition, neuroendocrinology, animal behavior, learning and memory, sleep, and dreams.
Description: Biology student with a strong interest in Neuroscience (in general), particularly in Neurophysiology, Neurogenetics, Neurocognition, and Behavioral Neuroscience. Additionally, I am interested in general Genetics, Biotechnology, Languages, Computational and Technological fields, as well as laboratory work, research, and data analysis.
Bruno Ramon Gomes Peixoto
Description: My name is Bruno, I am a software developer and game creator. Since childhood, I have had a small “flirtation” with the field of psychology and have a great passion for studying artificial intelligence.
COLABORATION
Janaina Weissheimer
Areas of Interest: My journey through various regions of Brazil brought me to the beautiful beaches of Rio Grande do Norte, where I chose to live. I enjoy being the mother of Pedro, who has been teaching me to be a better person for 22 years. I find fulfillment in training teachers at UFRN, building bridges between scientists and educators in the National Network for Science Education, and, in my free time, practicing Ashtanga yoga and enjoying the beach.
Description: My research focuses on the description of psycholinguistic processes analyzed using language processing tools, behavioral tasks, and neuroimaging techniques. My main focus is on the cognitive aspects of speech and reading, which may be associated with typical and atypical behaviors throughout life, influenced by biological and social contexts, such as education and bilingualism.
Priscilla Kelly da Silva Barros
Areas of Interest: Animal behavior, cognition, sleep-wake cycle, and education.
Description: I earned my undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from UFRN. I’m the cliché of a biologist passionate about nature, but also about art, sports, cinema, TV series, and non-conventional edible plants (PANCs). I completed my master’s degree in Psychobiology, also at UFRN, where I investigated the influence of color and shape on the color vision of marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). I am currently a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at UFRN, working in the Laboratory of Sleep, Dreams and Memory at the Brain Institute, where I am developing research on the relationship between aspects of sleep, mood states, and dream content in adolescents during Brazil’s national university entrance exam, the Enem. My interests include the fields of animal behavior, cognition, dreams, the sleep-wake cycle, and chronobiology.
Renata Homem
Areas of Interest: Neuroaesthetics, cognitive neuroscience, expanded consciousness, and anomalous experiences (premonitory dreams, altered states of consciousness, near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences).
Description: I am a Brazilian artist, writer, and educator with a PhD in Art History and a master’s degree in Art and Technology. Recently, I have expanded my studies into the field of cognitive neuroscience, driven by curiosity about learning, creative, subjective, poetic, and dreamlike processes. This pursuit has led me to seek a deeper understanding of consciousness in its entirety. I am currently developing a postdoctoral research project entitled “The Visionary Dreamers: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Expanded Consciousness Phenomena in Neuroscience”, to be carried out in the United Kingdom between 2025 and 2026, with visits to cognitive neuroscience and experimental psychology laboratories at various universities and educational institutions. The aim is to investigate how cognitive neuroscience can contribute to the understanding of experiences associated with expanded consciousness, such as premonitory dreams, near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, altered states of consciousness, mediumistic premonitions, and the expansion of consciousness through meditation.
Allan Kardec
Areas of Interest: Artificial Intelligence for Neuroscience.
Description: Allan Kardec Duailibe Barros Filho is a CNPq Research Productivity Fellow – Level 1C. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Maranhão (1991), a master’s degree in Information Engineering from Toyohashi University of Technology (1995), and a PhD in Information Engineering from Nagoya University (1998). He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at RIKEN (The Institute of Physics and Chemistry), Japan. He is currently a full professor at the Federal University of Maranhão and has supervised more than 80 master’s and doctoral students, including within the Northeast Biotechnology Network (RENORBIO). He has authored over 300 publications in international journals, magazines, and conferences, as well as books. He has led several research projects across multiple areas within the fields of energy and engineering, including PRONEX (Program for the Support of Centers of Excellence). He serves as a consultant for CAPES and other agencies, and as a reviewer for several internationally renowned journals and conferences. He has previously held positions as Pro-Rector for Research and Graduate Studies at UFMA and Director of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP). He is currently the President of the Maranhão State Gas Company (GASMAR).
Areas of Interest: Physiology, Neuroethology, Sleep, Memory, Cephalopods.
Sérgio Arthuro Mota Rolim
Areas of Interest: Sleep, dreams, lucid dreams, consciousness, philosophy of mind.
Sérgio Ruschi Bergamachi Silva
Areas of Interest: Computational Chemistry.
Ernesto Saias Soares
Areas of Interest: Neurophysiology, Abrupt Transitions in Neural System States, Control Feedback Loops.
Flávia Zacouteguy Boos
Areas of Interest: Memory, drug addiction, psychedelics, neuroscience, animal behavior, drug policy.
TECHNICAL TEAM
Daniel Soares Brandão
Areas of Interest: Electroencephalography (EEG), Sleep, Dreams, Hormones.
Description: I am an Information Technology Analyst at the Brain Institute (ICe), where I support the preparation, collection, and analysis of data in experiments involving EEG and fNIRS. I completed my Ph.D. in Bioinformatics in 2022, investigating the influence of sleep and dreams on combat simulations in video games. In 2014, I finished my master’s degree in Systems and Computing, focusing on developing a game for studies on maze navigation. I collaborate on research projects involving EEG, fNIRS, sleep, dreams, and signal processing. Currently, I serve as the deputy coordinator of CogLab and the manager of the Sleep, Dreams, and Memory Laboratory, both under the supervision of Professor Sidarta Ribeiro.