Imagine you are faced with a formidable problem – like trying to understand the brain. To make headway, it is useful to break the problem into smaller problems and tackle each in isolation. This is how psychology and neuroscience have progressed: Research traditionally proceeds by dividing the brain into regions that have different functions and studying those functions separately. This approach has been useful, but it fails to account for findings suggesting that the brain is not divided along constructs like “memory” and “perception”.

  

In my career, I have argued for approaching psychology and neuroscience in a different way. Rather than assigning particular cognitive functions to specific brain regions, I have demonstrated that understanding the representations and computations of a given brain area uncovers how it contributes broadly to many aspects of cognition. With this philosophy in mind, my central goal is to uncover how the brain's "memory systems" contribute to attention, perception, and prediction.

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Pronouns: she/her

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Fun fact: I have a window named after me in Davis, California!

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My CV can be found here.

 

My story in science can be found here.

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Hear me talk about the lab's research and my personal journey on Brain Inspired.

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Follow me on BlueSky!  

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