Senior Theses

The Center for Brain Science provides scan time at no charge for approved senior thesis projects using MRI. Every effort will be made to accommodate student thesis projects with the limited amount of scan time that is available.

To apply for a thesis award please submit the following information:

• A copy of the approved thesis proposal
• Name of adviser and of any co-advisers
• Number of subjects required
• Estimate of the amount of time you will need in the scanner for each subject
• Estimated time frame for the start/end of the MRI project

Please send applications to Caroline West (wcwest@fas.harvard.edu).

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)