Contacts

Katie is interested in studying brain processes related to early language development in young infants. Her research combines methods of magnetoencephalography (MEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study how brain activity is related to early word learning. A major goal of her research is to determine which brain areas are important for early language acquisition.

Lara is interested in studying the birth of new neurons in the adult brain. She uses genetic, cellular, electrophysiological, and behavioral techniques to study the function of adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus, a structure in the brain that is heavily involved in learning and memory. A major goal of her research is to determine how neurogenesis is influenced by the environment and the emotional state of organisms.

Emily is interested in studying auditory perception. Her research aims to address questions about plasticity, attention, and object representation in the auditory system. For her experiments, Emily records from individual neurons in trained songbirds. A goal of her research will be to help us understand how our own auditory system processes complex sounds like language.

Jena’s research is focused on investigating the neural correlates of learning and memory encoding in humans. Jena uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how brain regions of the frontal and medial temporal lobe are involved in long-term declarative memory encoding and working memory processing.

Sarah is interested in the studying how junk food and addictive drugs are similar in the ways in which they affect how the brain functions. Her research focuses on how food impacts some of the same neural pathways as drugs like alcohol and cocaine and how these effects might contribute to obesity. Outside the lab, you're likely to find her on the golf course hitting her drives into the trees.

Nikoosh Carlo, PHD
Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute

Nikoosh’s graduate research focused on examining neuroanatomical differences in the amygdala, which is a brain region critical for detection and interpretation of emotionally salient information. These anatomical findings were evaluated from a functional framework in order to further understand how we, as humans, have developed into highly social beings capable of maintaining large and intricate, yet stable, social networks.