My research focuses on understanding the cellular foundations of human thought, specifically common sense, rationality, and imaginative thinking—key attributes that have made humans one of the most complex and adaptable species.
My recent thesis [Link] explores these fundamental questions, aiming to bridge the gap between the brain and the mind by drawing on recent breakthroughs in cellular neurobiology and computational neuroscience.
A central question is whether these cellular mechanisms can be replicated in machines. If so, could future AI not only assist humanity but also enhance our common sense, rationality, imaginative thinking, and even moral values? This question is explored further in A Cellular Doctrine of Morality: Intrinsic Active Precision and the Mind–Reality Overload Dilemma (2026) [Link].
If machines could truly think and imagine like us, what would life look like? Would they redefine personal growth, transform communities, and restructure entire societies? Is this a glimpse of humanity’s next evolutionary step, or merely an unattainable dream?
Recent publications (2025; 2026) demonstrate how computational models (e.g., Transformers) can emulate mechanisms associated with high-level perceptual and wakeful imaginative states to preselect relevant information before attention is applied.
This research direction is supported by our recent findings (2024a [Link], 2024b [Link], 2023 [Link], 2022a [Link], 2022b [Link], 2020 [Link]), which offer fundamental insights into the mechanisms of pyramidal Two-Point Neurons (TPNs) in the mammalian neocortex. These neurons have been suggested as hallmarks of conscious processing [Link], while their dysfunction has been linked to intellectual and learning disabilities [Link]. Recent research also highlights the role of TPNs in mental states including wakefulness, deep sleep, dreaming, and wakeful thought and imagery (Cellular Psychology, W. A. Phillips, Trends in Cognitive Sciences).
Our work has been highlighted as a notable contribution in a recent multiscale perspective from the flagship €1.2 billion Human Brain Project (HBP) [Link]. Additionally, a recent review by P. Poirazi and colleagues [Link] recognizes our research as being of “outstanding interest” in the field of next-generation neuromorphic computing. Our work is also prominently featured in the first book on two-point neurons, The Cooperative Neuron [Link], by Prof. W. A. Phillips, published by Oxford University Press in March 2023.
These contributions to the rapidly growing field of cellular neurobiology are encouraging AI researchers to incorporate TPNs into state-of-the-art AI models for applications in which speed, energy efficiency, and reliability are crucial. They are also motivating neurobiologists to investigate the fine-tuning required to harness these neurobiological mechanisms for solving complex real-world problems.
I currently serve as Principal Investigator of the ARIA-funded TREND project. Previously, I co-conceived and developed the 5G-IoT-enabled multisensory hearing-aid concept , which was ranked second in the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Grand Challenge on Frontiers of Physical Intervention (EP/T021063/1) and subsequently developed into the ~£4 million EPSRC COG-MHEAR Programme Grant, for which I served as Co-Lead.
I hold a B.Eng. in Electrical Engineering, an MSc in Electronics, and a PhD in Cognitive Computing. I have served as a visiting EPSRC/MRC Research Fellow at the University of Stirling and as a Fellow at the MIT Synthetic Intelligence Lab, the Oxford Computational Neuroscience Lab, and the Howard Brain Sciences Foundation. I am currently an Associate Professor of Cellular AI and Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of Stirling.