Research Interests
My research interests lie in cognitive neuroscience of human vision, memory, and learning. The long-term goal of the research program is to develop a theory from neural circuits to brain systems of cognitive decisions based on memory for visual objects under diverse stimulus and task conditions. This includes investigating the roles of learning and spatial analysis in object cognition. This research is important because memory is stored where information is processed. Thus to explain memory, the relevant information processing must also be understood. Vision is the dominant sensory modality in humans and the best understood scientifically at this time. Objects are the main focus of visual processing. Thus research on memory for visual objects is necessary for a comprehensive neurocomputational theory of human cognition and memory.
Approach
The research program integrates across several domains, focusing on the visual modality: perception and action, object constancy, long-term knowledge and memory (emphasizing representations for categorization, episodic recognition, and implicit memory), learning, mental imagery, spatial cognition, working memory, decision-making, and analogical reasoning.
Several vision and memory theories are investigated in the course of this research program, including grounded (embodied) cognition theory, model verification theory of object cognition, multiple memory systems theory, and transfer appropriate processing and encoding-specificity accounts of memory.
Techniques
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Event-related potentials (ERPs) time cortical processing and electroencephalography reveals cortical oscillations
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Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reveals the functional neuroanatomy
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Lesion studies assess the causal role of a brain structure
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Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
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Neuropsychological studies involving patients with brain dysfunction
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Computational modeling facilitates theory development