Research Topics

My primary program of research focuses on understanding the arousal systems of the brain. The brain is capable of regulating its concurrent arousal state to facilitate conscious behavior. Profound behavioral deficits can occur when this ability is compromised (e.g., coma, visual neglect following stroke). However, my work demonstrates that treatment of underlying arousal deficits through sensory or pharmacological stimulation can alleviate arousal-related symptoms, suggesting a strong relationship between arousal and symptoms in disorders commonly accompanied by underlying arousal deficits. My research uses converging methods from functional neuroimaging, non-invasive brain stimulation, cognitive psychology, and neuropsychology to advance our understanding of brain arousal systems and arousal regulation systems. My research aims to apply these techniques and our evolving understanding of brain arousal networks to the investigation and treatment of arousal-related deficits in stroke, dementia, post-surgical delirium, and other disorders.

A second vein of my research uses the same combination of methodologies to understand the brain regions, visual factors (e.g., spatial continuity), and potential consequences of deficits in causal event perception and decision-making. The ability to perceive and infer cause and effect from events in the environment is a central tenet of human cognition. Research suggests that deficient processing of causal relationships in the environment may be an important component of symptoms common to schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. My research into the nature and neural correlates of causality aims to identify the key mechanical and social components of causal perception and inference responsible for causality-related deficits in social and perceptual processing.

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Publications

Curriculum Vitae

Research Topics: (click below for detailed information)

Causality Visual neglect, stroke, and arousal

Arousal, visual perception, and spatial cognition Spatial cognition and perception

Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation

A complete list of publications is available here.