Neurocognitive Development Lab

Dr. Susan Rivera is an assistant professor and principal investigator of the Neurocognitive Development Lab.  She conducts research on the origins and development of symbolic representation in both infants and children. She uses classic behavioral and eyetracking as well as neuroimaging (fMRI, ERP) techniques to investigate such things as language acquisition, concept formation, object representation, and numerical cognition. As a member of the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, she also conducts research contrasting typical development with that of children with neurodevelopmental disorders including Autism, Down Syndrome and fragile X Syndrome.
One of her main research goals is to build a framework for integrating the previously disparate methodological and theoretical orientations of cognitive developmental and neuroscience research. By employing a variety of converging research techniques, she strives to elucidate the complex brain-behavior relationships that underlie cognitive development. (link to CV)

Faraz Farzin is a graduate student in the Psychology program.  She is interested in describing cognitive development in infants with fragile X Syndrome in order to identify deficits that can be targeted for treatment. She uses eye-tracking technology to assess auditory and visual processing in infants with fragile X Syndrome compared to typically developing infants.(link to CV)

Kami Koldewyn is a graduate student in the neuroscience program.  She is interested in using psychophysical and neuroimaging techniques to explore both deficits in visual motion processing in those with autism and how those deficits might impact social cognition.  Other interests include examining possible molecular, neurological and genetic contributions to anxiety, aggression and social reciprocity problems in fragile X and autism

Nancie Zawaydeh is a graduate student in the Human Development program.  Her research interests include symbolic functioning (including language and numerical perception) in typically developing infants.

Eric Charles is now a post-doctoral fellow at Clark University.  He is interested in the fundamental nature of perception and cognition.  His research currently focuses on the looking behavior of infants and combines cognitive, behavioral and ecological analyses.

Liz Reynolds is now a graduate student at UCLA.  Her research interests include investigating the brain activation underlying differences in language abilities between typically developing children and children with Down and Fragile X syndromes using fMRI.  Liz is currently applying to neuroscience and psychology Ph.D. programs.  In graduate school she is interested in investigating the effects of cultural experience on the developing brain. (link to CV)