Core Faculty

Eugenia Victoria Ellis, PhD, AIA

As an architect dedicated to re-envisioning the constructed world, I study the visual and non-visual effects of light on design. My work focuses on natural light and health, spatial visualization and three-dimensional imagining, and visual perception and altered states of perception, such as blindness and dementia. At intersections of nature, the built environment and behavior, I investigate (eco)logical building systems, architectural theory and wellbeing with the goal of creating frameworks for the design of sustainable buildings at the nexus of health, energy and technology. My research is interdisciplinary and includes collaborators outside of design in fields such as engineering, information science, biomedical engineering, and the health professions.

Youngmoo Kim, Ph.D.

My interests focus on the machine understanding of sound (particularly music), which includes research projects in human perception and cognition. My research group, the Music & Entertainment Technology Laboratory (MET-lab), actively explores the relationships between sound, emotion, and creative expression as related to both music perception and performance. I am also very interested in human-machine interfaces and robotics, and we develop computational tools and technologies to facilitate expressive interaction. My students and I are also heavily engaged in K-12 outreach programs using music technology to enhance engineering, science, and mathematics education, with a particular emphasis in fostering creativity and innovation at all levels of learning.

Frank Lee

I am deeply fascinated by how people learn and perform complex and dynamic tasks. Examples of such tasks include driving a car, piloting a plane, and controlling air-traffic. I empirically investigate and develop computational cognitive models of people performing complex and dynamic tasks to understand the cognitive processes underlying the skills necessary for performing such tasks. My ongoing projects include research on synthetic characters for games and virtual worlds, cognitive softbots, prospective memory, multitasking, and psychological time.

Dario Salvucci

My primary interests lie in the intersection of cognition and computation, specifically how to represent cognitive processes in terms of computational simulations. I am especially interested in human multitasking -- how people perform two tasks at the same time, and how to understand their behavior and predict when two given tasks might be easier or harder to perform in a multitask setting. For example, our laboratory has done a number of studies and simulations of driver distraction and task interruption; this work has attempted to bridge the gap between basic laboratory studies of multitasking and complex applied tasks as they arise in real-world multitasking contexts.

Joshua Jacobs

I am interested in characterizing the patterns of neuronal activity that support human conceptual representations states. A distinguishing feature of my recent work is a focus on the detailed brain patterns that differentiate specific cognitive representations, in contrast to the more broad cognitive patterns that are often examined in human brain research. My current work uses direct electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings from the brains of neurosurgical patients, as this method provides human brain data with a uniquely high spatial and temporal precision. I have also done work with human single-neuron recordings and scalp electroencephalography.

Hualou Liang

My research lies in the general area of computational and cognitive neuroscience. I am interested in understanding the relationship of neuronal processes, circuits, and computations to cognitive functions. The major thrust of my work is computational. I use computational approaches to try to forge links between disparate findings from normal and abnormal brain function. My research efforts have been directed toward the development and application of new conceptual and technical tools such as Granger causality for neuroscience. I'm currently focused on a systematic and quantitative study of computational problems in visual selective attention, and on understanding how perception emerges from neural population activity.

Patricia Shewokis

My research interests include: (a) processes and mechanisms involved in the acquisition, retention, and transfer of cognitive and motor skills; (b) neural plasticity as a function of practicing tasks, (c) attentional, and neural mechanisms involved in brain-computer interface research employing biofeedback in learning paradigms, and (d) impact of motor learning principles and functional electrical stimulation in novel training programs for children with cerebral palsy. Currently I am funded to examine the neural mechanisms of contextual interference when learning computer tasks and brain-computer interfaces with the application of biofeedback in a learning paradigm.

Wen-Jun Gao, Ph.D.

Research Summary - Cerebral cortex, especially prefrontal cortex, is the most complex brain region in the central nervous system. Elucidating its diverse functions represents a major challenge in neurobiology. We are interested in the neuronal mechanisms underlying the synaptic signaling and monoaminergic regulation in the prefrontal cortical circuitry, as well as the critical issues involving neuropathology of mental disorders and other neurological diseases. Specifically, we are taking the advantages of in vivo and in vitro preparations to examine the neuronal signaling in both normal animals and clinical models of psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and ADHD. Work in my laboratory is currently focused in the following projects: 1) monoaminergic (dopamine and norepinephrine) regulation of synaptic transmissions and local circuitry in the prefrontal cortex; 2) postnatal development of prefrontal local circuitry; 3) the roles of NMDA receptors in the schizophrenia pathological process; and 4) psychostimulant actions on the synaptic plasticity and trafficking of glutamatergic receptors. Our research involves a variety of morphological, physiological, pharmacological, and molecular approaches designed to elucidate the synaptic mechanisms underlying the prefrontal functions. Morphological studies include single-cell labeling, neuronal reconstruction, and immunocytochemistry. Physiological, pharmacological and molecular approaches include multiple whole-cell recordings, drug applications, western blotting, and real-time PCR in fresh brain tissues, acute brain slices, and cell culture preparations. These approaches are mutually supportive with a comprehensive integration across disciplines.

Jeff Oristaglio, Ph.D.

"Cognitive flexibility" refers to the general capacity to implement new behavioral strategies when current strategies fail to achieve desired results. For animals, this capacity is essential for survival. For humans, it is required for solving novel problems and for actively seeking out new experiences and opportunities to learn. Oftentimes, changes in behavioral strategy require shifts in attention from non-essential aspects of the environment to those that are of importance in implementing and testing newly-formulated plans. Unfortunately, deficits in selective attention and cognitive flexibility are hallmarks of various psychological and neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and autism. Therefore, understanding the physiological processes that govern behavioral flexibility is of obvious importance to treating individuals with these disorders. Work in my lab is focused on developing novel experimental paradigms with rodents to examine the physiological processes underlying selective attention and the representation and selection of behavioral strategies. Our approach involves the recording of neural activity in the frontal cortex of awake, behaving subjects as they perform tasks requiring them to shift their attention to various characteristics of visual and auditory stimuli in order to acquire rewards. Eventually, we hope to use our findings to help guide the development of treatments that can enhance attentional capacity and behavioral flexibility in cognitively-challenged and normal individuals.

Barry D. Waterhouse, Ph.D.

The primary focus of my laboratory is to understand the role of the central noradrenergic and serotonergic systems in brain function and behavior. Our studies employ a broad spectrum of neuroanatomical, behavioral, and electrophysiological techniques including rodent performance in sustained and flexible attention tasks, single and ensemble neuron recording from anesthetized and waking animals, computer- based acquisition and analysis of spike train data, and mapping of monoamine projections from source nuclei using anterograde and retrograde tracer substances. The underlying theme of this work is that synaptically released norepinephrine and serotonin operate as complementary neuromodulatory substances, which regulate the responsiveness of individual neurons, local circuits, and neural networks to synaptic inputs. As such, these systems appear to play a significant role in the ability of the organism to orient, attend, and respond appropriately to novel or salient stimuli from the sensory surround. Clinical implications of this work which have led to related experimental studies are that these monoaminergic systems may underlie some of the behavioral actions of psychostimulant drugs such as methylphenidate and cocaine.