Previous Senior Theses in Neuroimaging

2023-2024

Sonya Ganeshram (Neuroscience- Advisor: Erin Hecht) Canine Careers: Neuroanatomical Variation Between Working and Nonworking Dogs

Colby Weiss (Neuroscience – Advisor: Nadine Gaab) Improving our Understanding of Math Learning Disabilities: An fMRI Analysis of the Neurobiological Correlates to Numerical Processing in order to Better Understand the Mechanisms of Dyscalculia

2022-2023

Samuel Murdock (Neuroscience/Philosophy- Advisor: Randy Buckner) Theories of Theory of Mind: Investigating the Dimensions and Supportive Neural Architecture of the “Mentalizing Module”

Sophia Vranos (Psychology – Advisor: Elizabeth Phelps) Reconsolidation and Cognitive Restructuring of Autobiographical Memories

2021-2022

Oluwatobi Ariyo (Neuroscience/Philosophy – Advisor: Randy Buckner) The Fragmentation of the Moral Brain: Exploring the Component Processes of Moral Reasoning and its Relevance to Large-scale Association Networks

Jacob Blair (Neuroscience/Philosophy – Advisor: Mina Cikara) We Can’t All Be Right: The Neural Correlates of Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion Statements in a Political Context

Oliver Sussman (Neuroscience – Advisor: Alfonso Caramazza) Neural Representations of Motion Events: The Role of Agency

2020-2021

Isabella Shaw (Neuroscience – Advisor: Randy Buckner) Hippocampal Correlations: A Fine-Scale, Trial-Specific Investigation of the Subcortical Brain and Distributed Cortical Networks Within Individuals

2019-2020

Kelsey Ichikawa (Neuroscience/Philosophy – Advisor: Mina Cikara) The Reward of Others’ Pain: The Morality of Schadenfreude and Neural Correlates of Latent Preferences for Out-Group Harm

Katherine Miclau (Neurobiology – Advisor: Randy Buckner) Selective Activation, Collective Suppression: Provisional Evidence for Broad Modulation of Large-Scale Networks from Within-Individual Analysis of the Default Network

Emilé Radyté (Neuroscience/Anthropology – Advisor: Jason Mitchell) Reading the Mind: Semantic Representations of Self and Others in the Theory of Mind Network

2018-2019

Shenyece Ferguson (Neurobiology – Advisor: George Alvarez) An Exploration of the Effects of Attention on Neural Processing of Visual Information

Joanna Tao (Neurobiology – Advisor: Justin Baker) Toward Understanding the Role of Physical Activity and Functional Connectivity in Health and Pathology using Machine Learning

2017-2018

Anna Riley-Shepard (Psychology – Advisor: George Alvarez) The Motor and Memory Abilities of Effortful vs. Non-effortful Attentional Systems: Evidence from Action Processing in Dancers

2016-2017

Bryan Bu (Bioengineering – Advisor: Mark Ottensmeyer) MRI Phantommaker: A 3D Printed DTI Calibration Platform for Water Diffusion Direction and Anisotropy in the Brain

Isobel Green (Psychology – Advisor: Diego Pizzagalli) The Effect of Affective Priming on Reward Processing in Individuals with Low vs. High Levels of Depressive Symptoms

Meghan Hind (Neurobiology – Advisor: Randy Buckner) Longitudinal Deep Phenotyping of the Individual: Dynamics Associtated with Real-World Stress

Micah Sivitz Gellman (Neurobiology – Advisor: Gigi Luk)  Investigating the Relationship between L2 Acquisition and White Matter Integrity: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

2015-2016

Claire Leibowicz (Psychology – Advisor: Mina Cikara) Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Examine the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex’s Role in Intergroup Empathy

Constanza Vidal Bustamante (Psychology – Advisor: Leah Somerville) Cognitive and Biological Underpinnings of Reward-Control Interactions Across Development

2014-2015

Hannah Borowsky (Neurobiology – Advisor: Margaret Sheridan)  A Biological Perspective on Why Teenagers Do Stupid Stuff: Exploring Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Relationships between White Matter Integrity, Childhood Adversity, and Adolescent Risk-Taking

Jeffrey Edwards (Neurobiology – Advisor: Joshua Buckholtz) Selectively Altering Intertemporal Decision-Making Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Christina Herbosa (Neurobiology – Advisor: Margaret Sheridan) Investigating Differences in Neural Activity of Young Children with and without Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Bernadette Wharton (Neurobiology – Advisor: Edwin Robertson) Using Functional Connectivity to Understand Memory System Communication During Off-line Learning

Malte Zopfs (Neurobiology – Advisor: Joshua Buckholtz) Localizing Subtypes of Impulsivity to Subregions of the Striatum

2013-2014

Alexandra Haber (Neurobiology – Advisor: George Alvarez) Your Brain on SET: An Exploration of the Neural Basis of Expertise in Rule-Based Pattern Recognition

Morgan Henry  (Neurobiology – Advisor: George Alvarez) Exploring Object Invariance in Visual Processing with Predictive Modeling and fMRI Pattern Analysis (Hoopes Prize)

Cheng Li (Psychology – Advisor: Alfonso Caramazza) Effects of First And Third Person Verbs On Primary Motor Cortex Activity: A TMS Investigation

Allie Pace  (HEB/MBB – Advisor: Christine Hooker) Your Brain on Games: Neural Activity Differences in Emotion Recognition after Plasticity-based Social Cognitive Training 

Arielle Rabinowitz (Psychology – Advisor: Leah Somerville) The Impact of Childhood Stress on Emotional Response in Early Adulthood

Nina Sokolovic (Neurobiology – Advisor: Margaret Sheridan) How does Socioeconomic Status Affect Children’s Executive Function? Examining Motivation and Neural Structure as Possible Mediating Factors

Theresa Tharakan (Neurobiology – Advisor: Joshua Greene) Deconstructing the Moral Mind: An fMRI Investigation Mapping the Foundations of Moral Judgment

2012-2013

Matthew Coates (Neurobiology – Advisor: Margaret Sheridan) Association of Socioeconomic Status with Prefrontal Cortical Thickness and Subcortical Volumes in Children and Adolescents

Brian Yang (Neurobiology – Advisor: Randy Buckner) Exploring Multisensory Facilitation Using Functional Connectivity MRI in Humans

Matthew Yung  (Psychology – Advisor: Christine Hooker) An Investigation of the Neural Mechanisms and Functional Outcomes of Theory-of-Mind in Couples

2011-2012

Samia Arthur-Bentil (Neurobiology – Advisor: Christine Hooker) Evidence for Neural Plasticity in the Neurocognitive Training of Individuals At-Risk  for Developing Psychosis

Caitlin Carey  (Psychology – Advisor: Christine Hooker) An fMRI Investigation of Automatic Simulation in Schizophrenia (Awarded the Hoopes Prize and nominated for the Captain Jonathan Fay Prize)

Nadia Liyanage-Don  (Neurobiology – Advisor: Christine Hooker) Abnormalities in Neural Structures of Attention and their Relation to Impaired Social Function in Schizophrenia

Juan Munoz (Neurobiology – Advisor: Margaret Sheridan) Development of the Implicit Learning Mechanism in Children: An fMRI Study

Matthew Sachs (Psychology – Advisor: Joshua Greene) Functional and Structural Neural Connectivity Associated with Individual Differences in the Chill Response to Music

2010-2011

Henrietta Afari (Psychology – Advisor: Randy Buckner)  The Neural Correlates of Aversive Feelings: Anterior Insula Responses to Route Obstructions during Virtual Navigation

Sophie Wharton (Psychology – Advisor: Joshua Greene) Thou Shalt vs. Thou Shalt Not: The Neural Processes Underlying Decisions to Help vs. Decisions to Avoid Doing Harm (Hoopes Prize)