URWINS: Members

Melisande Aellen, Ph.D.

Postdoc
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

I am working with zebrafish, Danio rerio, a freshwater fish living in South Asia. The aims of my project are to run experiments that compare decision-making mechanisms and outcomes between individual fish and groups of fish. I focus on the question of rationality. For example, can groups of fish make rational choices even in situations where individual fish behave irrationally? What mechanisms of collective decision-making might be responsible for such higher performance? I also want to understand how fish perceive and think to learn more about how groups of fish make decisions. I want to empirically compare individual and collective performance to determine the boundaries of distinct forms of rationality.

Abigail Alpers

Ph.D. Student
Neuroscience Graduate Program

I am studying cortical and subcortical oscillatory biomarkers of movement disorders and their response to deep brain stimulation in the labs of Drs. Angela Hewitt and Manny Gomez-Ramirez.

Farran Briggs, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Department of Neuroscience
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

I am interested in structure-function relationships in the early visual system and how activity in identified neuronal circuits contributes to visual perception. We also examine how attention alters the way visual information is encoded in visual circuits.

Yue Guzhang

Ph.D. Student
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Alyssa Ignaco

Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Biomedical Engineering

My research is on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying touch localization in the hand. I specifically focus on how tactile distractor suppression is spatially deployed and how proprioception affects our perception of touch locations.

Coraline Rinn Iordan, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Department of Neuroscience

I'm a computational cognitive neuroscientist who studies how our brains understand and remember stories. My research uses complex naturalistic stimuli (e.g., movies, podcasts), together with behavioral assays, neuroimaging (fMRI), and computational modeling and analysis.

Anna Kolstad

M.D./Ph.D. Student
Department of Biomedical Engineering

I am studying how the hippocampus---a brain region involved in memory, emotion, and navigation---is involved in processing olfactory information within the brain.

Chigusa Kurumada, Ph.D. (Faculty Advisor)

Assistant Professor
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

My research focuses on cognitive and perceptual underpinnings of language learning and communication. In particular, I investigate how language users track and use subtle variations of speech prosody (e.g., intonation, tempo, vocal features) to draw inference over the speaker's intentions and emotions.

Chen Li (co-organizer)

Ph.D. Student
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

I study the role of norepinephrine and glutamate in attention in the rodent model.

Yumeng Luo (co-organizer)

Ph.D. Student
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

I study cell-type specific neural circuits for affective touch within the somatosensory cortex.

Sabrina Mai

Ph.D. Student
Department of Neuroscience

Renee M. Miller, Ph.D.

Director
Neuroscience Degree Program
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Krishnaveni Nagarajan

Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Krishnaveni’s research explores the foveola—the tiny, central 1-degree region of our visual field—to better understand how structure and function correlate. Specifically, by measuring visual acuity at specific points within this area and linking these results with cone density under both natural and clear, aberration-free conditions, she’s uncovering details that have remained largely unknown in this small but most important part of the eye. A dual Purkinje image eye tracker captures the tiniest eye movements and ensures accuracy in these measurements, while adaptive optics provide detailed, high-resolution images of cone distribution. Her work brings new clarity to how this central region supports our sharpest sight.