The Jiang lab seeks to understand the cognitive and neural mechanisms that enable goal-directed behavior using a combination of lab- and web-based behavioral studies, functional neuroimaging, computational modeling and virtual reality technology. Specifically, the lab focuses on the fundamental questions about how task-set –– the collection of cognitive control demands required to perform a task –– is learned, stored, retrieved and generalized to new tasks, contexts and experiences in both young and aging populations, with work consisting of three primary research themes: (1) the interaction between task-set mnemonic representation and task-set execution; (2) how age-related changes in goal-directed behavioral relate to altered neural representation of task-sets; and (3) how the changes in task-set representation and execution are related to mental disorders.

Recent publications