The goal of RUBIN-VASE is to design and validate novel variational models for the evolution of neuronal activations in the visual and auditory systems, naturally encoding the neurobiological principle of efficient representation. By focusing on modifications of the celebrated Wilson-Cowan equations for neuronal dynamics, we aim to i) validate this as an approach for the primary visual cortex, through the study of hallucinatory patterns; ii) develop a neuro-inspired framework for sound processing and speech reconstruction, by modelling the primary auditory cortex via the same variational evolution; iii) compare the proposed variational models with data-driven ones, based on sparse sensing and predictive coding. Our objectives will follow by coupling the development of rigorous mathematical theories with their numerical and experimental validation. This will be done through an original interaction between variational/control theoretic techniques and psychophyisical experiences.