The brain is wider than the sky,
For, put them side by side,
The one the other will contain
With ease, and you besides.
--- Emily Dickinson
Bradley Doll, Graduate Student
bradley_doll@brown.edu
Brad is interested how
representations in the prefrontal cortex cooperate and compete with
reinforcement learning processes in the basal ganglia. Collaborative
projects approach this problem with an number of methodologies,
including behavioral studies, computational models, fMRI, and genetic
assays.
Christina Figueroa , Research Technician and Lab Manager
cmfig24@gmail.com
Christina manages day to day lab affairs, schedules experiments, and
is a research technician extraordinaire.
Thomas Wiecki, Neural modeler
thomas.wiecki@googlemail.com
Thomas is working on his diploma thesis from the University of
Tuebingen, Germany, currently in the LNCC. His main interest lies in
computational psychiatry. He uses models of the basal ganglia to gain further
understanding of psychiatric disorders such as Parkinson's disease and
schizophrenia, focusing on how these are influenced by psychopharmaceutical
drugs. Thomas says... "Research into these disorders can also advance our
understanding of the intact brain -- linking neuronal differences to
behavioral differences in psychiatric patients can lend insights into
the neuronal correlates underlying those behaviors."
Jim Cavanagh, Graduate Student, U of Arizona
jimcav@email.arizona.edu
Jim Cavanagh works in
Dr. John Allen's lab at
the U of Arizona and in
collaboration with the LNCC. Our collaboration utilizes EEG
measurements for insight into neural systems involved in reinforcement
learning, especially the Error-Related Negativity (ERN) family of voltage
potentials. Jim is interested in how stress compromises different neural
systems involved in reinforcement learning, and if this approach offers
insight into disorders such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction.
Shikhar Kumar, Graduate Student, U of Arizona
shikhark@email.arizona.edu
Shikhar works on abstract mathematical models of learning and decision
making, primarily focusing on Bayesian measurements of uncertainty and
their influences on the dynamics of the learning process, including the
exploration vs exploitation tradeoff.
Former Lab Members:
Ahmed Moustafa, Postdoctoral Fellow
ahmedhalimo@gmail.com
Mike X Cohen , Postdoctoral Fellow
mikexcohen@gmail.com
