I am interested in the brain basis of social behavior in humans. I use the lesion method to study how people form social judgments, and I am also investigating the ways in which emotion can influence other cognitive processes, such as decision-making and memory. This research attempts to understand how people learn social information in the real world, and ultimately how this learning helps guide future behavior. This is important because it gives us a better understanding of how healthy brains function during social behavior and decision-making, and also how unhealthy/dysfunctional brains (e.g., injured brains or brains with a disease/disorder like autism) malfunction in the real world, thus providing us with insight into how to rehabilitate social behavior in these patients. I currently work primarily with Drs. Steve Anderson, Dan Tranel, Ralph Adolphs (Caltech), and Tom Grabowski.
On the Neuroscience Program at the University of Iowa: The people here are exceptional- the faculty, program administrators, and students are outstanding both in and outside of neuroscience. The faculty have created a highly collaborative and professional environment, giving graduate students the opportunity to pursue their individual research interests. The program is truly multidisciplinary, so you are exposed to many different aspects of neuroscience, both through courses and the seminar series.
Iowa City is a great little town with lots of character. It is the perfect place to be a graduate student! We have: tons of live music (it is definitely a college town), the annual summer Arts Festival, the famous Writer's Workshop, a fantastic Co-op and Farmer's Market, where you can find all sorts of wonderful fresh, organic vegetables and treats and take cooking classes, nearby Amish and Mennonite communities that produce delicious local foods, a fantastic football team (and plenty of year-round Hawkeye sporting events to attend), lots of hiking trails and nearby camping sites, nearby Chicago if you need a big city fix, a local mall and outlet mall that has all you would need for shopping, a great airport that's 25 min. away from downtown Iowa City, and a college-town vibe that is progressive, alive, and always up to something.
“This is a great place—perhaps the best place—to do cognitive neuroscience research with neurological patients. There is excellent functional imaging work going on here, too, as well as a very interesting assortment of molecular and cellular research.”