2026 Karl J. Friston: Neuroscience Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

D-Index & Metrics

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Best Scientists	276	26	24	3	2	1467	342668
Neuroscience	283	3	2	1	1	1406	355789

Discipline name

D-Index

World Ranking

Current World Ranking

National Ranking

Current National Ranking

Publications

Citations

Best Scientists

276

1467

342668

Neuroscience

283

1406

355789

Best Scientists

D-Index

276

Citations

342668

World Ranking

National Ranking

Neuroscience

D-Index

283

Citations

355789

World Ranking

National Ranking

Research.com Recognitions

2026 - Research.com Neuroscience in United Kingdom Leader Award
2025 - Research.com Best Scientists Award
2025 - Research.com Neuroscience in United Kingdom Leader Award
2022 - Research.com Neuroscience in United Kingdom Leader Award
2015 - Member of Academia Europaea
2006 - Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom
2003 - Golden Brain Award, Minerva Foundation
Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)

Overview

Karl J. Friston is affiliated with University College London in the United Kingdom. Their research focuses primarily on Neuroscience, with extensive contributions to several subfields including Cognitive Neuroscience, Social Psychology, Artificial Intelligence, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, and Psychiatry and Mental Health.

Their research covers a range of main topics, notably:

Neural dynamics and brain function
Embodied and Extended Cognition
Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Action Observation and Synchronization
EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces
COVID-19 epidemiological studies
Mental Health Research Topics

Frequent publication venues for their work include:

arXiv (Cornell University)
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Entropy
NeuroImage
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Notable recent papers authored or coauthored by Friston include:

"Music in the brain", 2022, Nature Reviews. Neuroscience
"In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a simulated game-world", 2022, Neuron
"Prediction and memory: A predictive coding account", 2020, Progress in Neurobiology
"A step-by-step tutorial on active inference and its application to empirical data", 2022, Journal of Mathematical Psychology
"Deeply Felt Affect: The Emergence of Valence in Deep Active Inference", 2020, Neural Computation

Frequent coauthors working with Friston include:

Thomas Parr
Lancelot Da Costa
Adeel Razi
Noor Sajid
Peter Zeidman

Friston has also published a book titled Active Inference (2022) with The MIT Press.

The scientist has received several awards and distinctions such as:

Member of Academia Europaea (2015)
Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom (2006)
Golden Brain Award, Minerva Foundation (2003)
Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom

Best Publications

Statistical parametric maps in functional imaging: A general linear approach

K. J. Friston;A. P. Holmes;K. J. Worsley;J.-P. Poline

11614
Citations
Voxel-Based Morphometry—The Methods

John Ashburner;Karl J. Friston

10591
Citations
The free-energy principle: a unified brain theory?

Karl J. Friston

8469
Citations
A voxel-based morphometric study of ageing in 465 normal adult human brains.

Catriona D. Good;Ingrid S. Johnsrude;John Ashburner;Richard N.A. Henson;Richard N.A. Henson

5566
Citations
Dynamic causal modelling.

Karl J. Friston;Lee M. Harrison;William D. Penny

5503
Citations
A theory of cortical responses

Karl Friston

5191
Citations
Statistical Parametric Mapping: The Analysis of Functional Brain Images

W Penny;K Friston;J Ashburner;S Kiebel

4703
Citations
Spatial registration and normalization of images

Karl. J. Friston;J. Ashburner;C. D. Frith;J.-B. Poline

4608
Citations
Movement-related effects in fMRI time-series

Karl J. Friston;Steven Williams;Robert Howard;Richard S. J. Frackowiak

4257
Citations
Functional and effective connectivity: a review.

Karl J. Friston

3839
Citations
Psychophysiological and modulatory interactions in neuroimaging.

K. J. Friston;C. Buechel;G. R. Fink;J. Morris

3509
Citations
A unified statistical approach for determining significant signals in images of cerebral activation.

K. J. Worsley;S. Marrett;P. Neelin;A. C. Vandal

3355
Citations
Functional and effective connectivity in neuroimaging: A synthesis

Karl J. Friston

3119
Citations
Analysis of fMRI Time-Series Revisited

Karl J. Friston;A. P. Holmes;J. B. Poline;P. J. Grasby

2869
Citations
Canonical Microcircuits for Predictive Coding

Andre M. Bastos;William Martin Usrey;Rick A. Adams;George R Mangun

2639
Citations
Analysis of fMRI time-series revisited--again.

K.J. Worsley;K.J. Friston

2618
Citations
Dissociable roles of ventral and dorsal striatum in instrumental conditioning

John O'Doherty;Peter Dayan;Johannes Schultz;Ralf Deichmann

2519
Citations
Functional Connectivity: The Principal-Component Analysis of Large (PET) Data Sets

K. J. Friston;C. D. Frith;P. F. Liddle;R. S. J. Frackowiak

2497
Citations
Event-Related fMRI: Characterizing Differential Responses

Karl J. Friston;P. Fletcher;Oliver Josephs;A. Holmes

2420
Citations
Nonlinear spatial normalization using basis functions

John Ashburner;Karl J. Friston

2374
Citations
Assessing the significance of focal activations using their spatial extent

K. J. Friston;K. J. Worsley;R. S. J. Frackowiak;J. C. Mazziotta

2295
Citations