Staff Profile

BSc (Hons) Psychology, Northumbria University

MRes Neuroscience, Newcastle University

PhD Psychological Science (Neuroscience), Vanderbilt University

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Washington University in Saint Louis

My work has broadly focused on understanding how the brain learns about the world around us and uses this information to guide our future decisions. This is important as our world is unpredictable and complex, so the ability to adaptively control our cognition and decision-making in different environments and contexts is vital.

In my PhD, I looked to understand how the medial frontal cortex signaled cognitive control processes that occur during our interactions with the environment (i.e. whether we made an error, whether we experienced conflicting plans, etc…); these signals are vital for allowing us to learn from the outcomes of our actions within the world. In my first postdoctoral role, I then examined how neurons in the basal forebrain contribute to the detection and resolution of uncertainty about expected future outcomes; these signals are vital for allowing us to prepare and adapt our behavior in response to changing circumstances.

In Yuki Kikuchi's lab at Newcastle, my research focuses on the brain's process of perceptual inference, which involves generating predictions about the sensory world and is crucial for sensation, cognition, decision-making, and action. Rodent and primate models have given us important insights into how the brain processes sensory information and detects changes. However, we still don't fully understand how different brain circuits work together for these tasks, especially how top-down predictions from higher brain areas interact with incoming sensory information. My work combines behavioral studies in non-human primates with single-unit recordings, high-channel laminar electrophysiology across multiple brain regions, and optogenetic manipulations.

Keywords: cognitive control, statistical learning, action, prediction, neurophysiology, learning

Teaching Assistant Vanderbilt University, 2018 to 2022

Courses: PSY2750 (Perception), PSY2150 (Principles of Experimental Design)

Graduate Demonstrator, Newcastle University, 2014 to 2017

Courses: PSY1010 (Research Methods and Skills 1), PSY1011 (Research Methods and Skills 2), PSY2009 (Methods in Psychology 2A)