Anjan Chatterjee, M.D.

Lab Personnel

Anjan Chatterjee, M.D.
Professor of Neurology
Department of Neurology
E-mail: anjan[at]mail.med.upenn[dot]edu

My area of interest is in Cognitive Neuroscience and Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology. My research is directed at understanding the architecture and neural bases for human cognition. The structure of cognition is at present (and perhaps in principle) not reduced easily to cellular or molecular explanations. The study of how the brain mediates cognition, while constrained by micro-neural facts, is more directly investigated at higher levels of organization by studying cognition in humans. We use experimental and neuroimaging techniques in normal subjects and examine the neuro-psychological effects of brain damage. A clear understanding of cognitive systems and their breakdown is essential in educating patients and families and critical in designing rational treatment strategies.

Patient Coordinator:

Eileen Cardillo, D. Phil.
E-mail: eica[at]mail.med.upenn[dot]edu

Research: As the coordinator of the Patient Database at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience , I act as a liaison between patients with brain injury, their neurologists and families, and the scientists and clinicians studying the effects of brain injury on cognition. My own research concerns embodied approaches to language and their ability to account for normal comprehension and as well as the linguistic impairments following brain injury. Using a combination of behavioral and neuroimaging tasks with healthy adults and patients, I specifically focus on the neural basis of metaphoric and spatial language. I am also interested in cognitive and neural changes associated with different types of meditation practice.

Post-Doctoral Fellows:

Adam J. Woods, Ph.D.
E-mail: adwoods[at]mail.med.upenn[dot]edu

Research Interests: My present research is aimed at understanding the cognitive and neural bases for the perception of causality. The ability to perceive cause and effect (i.e., perceive causality) is an almost unique characteristic of human intelligence and underlies many human-specific abilities. Deficits in perceptual causality may play a role in a variety of disorders following brain-damage. Furthermore, deficits in inferring and perceiving causality have been suggested to contribute to schizophrenia, autism, and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. My research uses cognitive, functional neuroimaging, and neuropsychological methods to understand the nature and neural correlates of perceptual causality for normal and abnormal human behavior. My prior research has investigated unilateral visual neglect, cortical and behavioral arousal, human navigation, and visual perception.

Tilbe Göksun, Ph.D.
E-mail: tilbe[at]mail.med.upenn[dot]edu

Research Interests: My research questions center on the relationship between event perception and language. By taking an interdisciplinary and cross-linguistic approach, I investigate the cognitive processes and neural structures related to comprehending causal events and spatial events and producing causal sentences and spatial language. I am particularly interested in studying different levels of representations (perceptual, neural, verbal, and gestural) of causal and spatial events in normal and brain damaged adults and focal brain injured children, using behavioral, neuroimaging, and lesion analysis techniques.

Marguerite McQuire, Ph.D.
E-mail: mcquire[at]mail.med.upenn[dot]edu

Research Interests: Despite the prevalence of figurative language in communication, we know little about the processes underlying its comprehension. As a graduate student at UCSD, I used electroencephalography (EEG) and behavioral methods to gain insights into literal and figurative language comprehension. Here at Penn, I hope to add to this line of study by investigating the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms using fMRI and VLSM methods with typical and patient populations. I speak fluent Spanish and French and enjoy playing wheelchair tennis.

Graduate Students:

Eliza Alawi

Research Interests: I graduated in Neuropsychology at Maastricht University in 2011 investigating subliminal emotional processing. I am interested in cognitive neuroscience, psychiatric and neurological dysfunctions and emotion processing. My current research is focused on the implementation of social reward in real-time fMRI neurofeedback in different clinical populations and healthy controls. Real-time fMRI helps participants to learn control over localized brain activity. Using real-time fMRI training and a brain-computer interface I want to understand the underlying neurobiology of impaired emotions and develop alternative therapeutic applications. As a stipend holder of the International Research Training Group (IRTG-1328), I am continuing my research at UPenn. In addition to my previous studies I will be using quality of life measures to assess how different areas of life are affected in patients after the occurrence of a stroke.

Juliane Mühlhaus

Research Interests: I received my diploma in Speech and Language Pathology in 2006 and practiced in a clinical setting for 3 years. Since 2010, I have been a PhD student at the RWTH Aachen in Germany. As an Associate Student in the International Research Training Group (IRTG-1328 Schizophrenia and Autism), I am continuing my research at UPenn, focusing on how conceptual knowledge is grounded in the brain in healthy subjects as well as in patients. In my free time, I like to explore nature, go jogging, and travel.

Undergraduates:

Katsiaryna Malykhina

Research Interests: As a Biological Basis of Behavior major, I’m interested in the differences between younger and older subject’s language production. Specifically, I’m looking at any distinctions in spatial language, as well as disparities in abstract versus concrete verb use between the two age groups.

Sonali Mehta

Research Interests: I am an undergraduate at Penn majoring in Biological Basis of Behavior. My research focuses primarily on aesthetic judgments of different styles of art, from representational to more abstract; I am working on studies that investigate these types of ratings among diverse subjects.

Geena Ianni

Research Interests: I am a senior Biological Basis of Behavior major in the College of Arts and Sciences and am presently working on my senior thesis project. My research focuses on neuroanatomical basis of metaphor comprehension. To this end, I work with stroke patients and healthy adults to further our understanding of metaphor comprehension and language comprehension in general. Our research focuses on metaphor not only as an artistic device but also as a window into the organization of human conceptual system. Outside of research, I also am a member of a modern dance company.

Visiting Scholars:

Bree Chancellor, M.D., M.B.A.

Research Interests: I am an MD/MBA from Cornell pursuing a neurology residency in 2013. I am interested in neurological disorders and how they inform our understanding of the biological bases of mind and behavior. Specific topics of inquiry include the cognitive and behavioral neurology of aesthetics, creativity, memory, and learning. My current research examines the theoretical and empirical bases for using art therapy in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Jonathan Yu
Research Specialist
Department of Neurology
E-mail: jonyu[at]mail.med.upenn[dot]edu

Research Interests: In 2012, I graduated from Haverford College, where I received a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in Neural and Behavioral Sciences. I am interested, broadly, in learning about the processes that govern our visual aesthetic judgments and whether these processes differ between patients with brain damage and healthy individuals. Outside of research, I am also interested in photography and music. I intend to pursue a career in medicine in the future.