CCN Lab Members

Aaron Bornstein is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, where he is affiliated with the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and the Center for Theoretical Behavioral Sciences. His lab’s work investigates how behavior optimally adapts to experience and context at multiple timescales and across the lifespan. His professional aspiration is to contribute to the critical examination of concepts of psychological and biological normativity. He is originally from New York, and spent time in Boston and San Francisco before settling in his current home, where he enjoys being an incongruous pedestrian and living at the service of his two cats.

Sharon Noh received her Bachelor’s degree in psychobiology at UCLA and her Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience at UT Austin.

Her research interests lie in identifying and understanding the conditions that improve long term learning and decision-making across the lifespan.

She is currently working on various projects investigating how memory processes influence planning and decision-making in older and younger adults using neuroimaging (fMRI) and computational modeling techniques.

Dale Zhou received Bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park and a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania. He is interested in how the brain network compresses and reconstructs information as network structure changes across the lifespan. He aims to account for computations of memory and reward as network functions of dimensionality reduction and expansion using experimental, naturalistic, and clinical data.

Outside of the lab, Dale enjoys reading, movies, and urging his cat to practice gratitude. He shares a birthday with Elvis and David Bowie, so dutifully carries out their musical legacy with the violin, guitar, and throat-singing.

Jungsun graduated from Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Philosophy. She obtained her M.Sc. degree in Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience from the Free University of Berlin, where she investigated the behavioral and neural interaction of domain-specific memory and value. She also worked as an AI researcher where she led research on explainable AI. In the CCN Lab, Jungsun is currently working on understanding how people learn and use various kinds of representations to plan, as well as how variable experience shapes our internal representation of the world. In Fall 2025, she will be joining Princeton Neuroscience Institute as a Postdoctoral Research Associate to work with Prof. Yael Niv and Prof. Nathaniel Daw.

Outside of lab, Jungsun plays violin and viola. She performs in orchestra concerts from time to time and leads an amateur chamber orchestra.

Ari earned a B.S. in Psychology with a second major in Philosophy from Boston College where they worked with Maureen Ritchey on reality monitoring in episodic memory. Ari then worked at Duke University, where they researched autobiographical memory and counterfactual thinking with Felipe De Brigard. While at Duke, Ari also served as Program Coordinator for the Summer Seminars in Neuroscience and Philosophy. Ari is co-advised by Aaron Bornstein and Megan Peters. Ari uses computational modeling, human behavior, and neuroimaging to study how humans adaptively use past experiences to reduce uncertainty about the present. Outside of lab, Ari enjoys tending to their plants, spending time with loved ones, and daydreaming about (nearby) possible worlds.

Alexa obtained her B.S. in cognitive neuroscience at UC Davis. After graduating she worked with Timothy Hanks at UC Davis studying perceptual decision-making. Following this she worked with Manish Saggar at Stanford researching brain dynamics through topological data analysis. Alexa is interested in the neural mechanisms of memory-guided decision-making, particularly with respect to navigating graph-structured spaces. Outside the lab she enjoys reading, art, and being outdoors.

Bianca received her Bachelor’s in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh. Bianca is an MD/PhD student with a focus on innovating practices in psychiatric care. She uses tools from neuroimaging and cognitive neuroscience to study the function of brain networks that are relevant in psychiatric conditions. Her dissertation work is focused on the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT), a highly interconnected thalamic region that is involved in both appetitive and aversive stimulus processing, and not well characterized in humans. Bianca is working on mapping the PVT network, examining the effect of early life adversity on the development of this network, and interrogating the function of the PVT in motivational conflict decision-making. She hopes to integrate and support more community voices into psychiatric research. Outside of lab, she loves to go rollerblading along the ocean, dining in Long Beach, and savoring time with loved ones.

My name is Melisa Azimihashemi, I am in my 4th year as a cognitive science major. My research interests are primarly focused on the brain and how the it works. I am intrigued by the different factors that can influence our memory and decision making process. I am also interested in the development of the brain and how it ages over time.

My name is Yiting (Vessa) Shi, and I am a junior student majoring in Psychology, minoring in Biological Sciences. I am interested in many areas of psychology, but my favorite and also my research interest is people’s motivation and decision making, especially the reasons behind their decisions and how the decisions would affect their relationship with other people.

My name is Ami Yamamoto, an upcoming Junior double majoring in Psychology B.S. and Criminology, Law, and Society. My research interest is anything based on decision making and motivation. I am particularly interested in anger management and emotional control in individuals. I want to understand the difference between people who act upon their emotions and those who do not.

My name is Meghan Johnson and I am currently a 4th year in Psychology! My research interests focus on the relationship between aging, decision-making, and memory. Outside of the lab, I like to crochet, watch video essays, and drink as much matcha as possible.

My name is Rohin Palsule and I am a 4th year Cognitive Sciences major at UCI! The research I am interested in relates to how episodic memory is stored in different graph-structured associative networks, and how those networks impact decision-making. Besides my research, I enjoy bouldering, playing soccer, and trying new restaurants in my local area.

My name is Jerry Guo and I am a 4th year Psychology(B.S.) major at UCI! The research I am interested in include using neural network to represent human participant’s data and the finding correlation between neural network and human in the encoding of the memory. Besides research, I like to boulder, snow board and enjoy good food.

My name is Aidan Goeschel, and I’m a 3rd Computer Science major at UCI. My primary research interest lies in developing computational models that represent cognitive processes. These models not only offer potential explanations for certain elements of cognition but also have valuable applications in modern artificial intelligence. Outside of the lab, I enjoy running, reading, and playing guitar.

My name is Qiyan Ye, a 4th year majoring in Psychology(B.S.) and Language Science. My current research interests include how aging impacts structure learning and how we encode non-native speech. Outside the lab, I enjoy books from wasps to gothic horror, knitting, and blasting showtunes.

Meet our lab mascot, Ch-ch-ch-chewie!

Nidhi received her PhD in September 2023! She is a postdoctoral researcher in political science at UC Berkeley.

Yifei received her B.A. in Cognitive Science from UC Berkeley, where she designed psychophysical experiments to investigate how people adapt and learn with various forms of feedback. Following graduation, she decided to further explore her interest in human decision-making processes, specifically how and why people make certain decisions in different contexts, before pursuing grad school. Outside the lab, Yifei enjoys visiting museums, painting, and editing her cat’s pictures. After leaving the lab, Yifei started her PhD in Psychology at Princeton University

Gloria received her bachelors degree, with Honors, in Cognitive Sciences at UC Irvine in June 2023. She then moved on to work as a lab manager at Stanford University. Her research interests focus on how people make decisions to optimize reward based on their memory of previous decisions. In the outside world, Gloria enjoys baking new recipes and spending time with her cat, Oligarchy.

Briana Coleman finished her Bachelors degree in 2022! She was a Campuswide Honors undergraduate student in Dr. Bornstein’s lab at the University of California, Irvine. Her interests lie in learning how anxiety can affect an individual’s decision-making, and how this relationship is modulated by socioeconomic and demographic factors. Outside the lab, Briana enjoys reading books and training in Mixed Martial Arts including Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Destiny Edens is a senior psychology student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. In the CCN Lab, she is currently examining the evolution of diagnostic criteria for mental disorders across different editions of the DSM. Her research interests are centered on the effects of early life adversity on children’s neurological stability. Outside of the lab, Destiny enjoys photography, hiking, and knitting.

Nora received her PhD in May 2024! She is now a postdoctoral researcher working with Prof. Catherine Hartley at New York University.

Tommie received his Bachelor of Science degree in Cognitive Sciences, with Honors, at the University of California, Irvine. His research interests are in the domain of memory and decision-making. More specifically, he wants to learn how people use their memory to represent the structure of their environments, and how they use that structure to guide their decisions. In his free time, Tommie enjoys the outdoors, plays and follows basketball, and builds custom keyboards.  You can catch him hiking with his dog Milo or rooting for his favorite NBA team (go Lakers!).

Nadeja is a third year undergraduate psychology student at Howard University. She was a Summer Institute in Neuroscience fellow who worked alongside Ari Khoudary on a project testing a new theory of expectation-guided perceptual decision making. Nadeja is interested in the psychological aspect of perception, and would like to research more about how different internal factors may have an influence on the way an individual perceives their surroundings and themselves.

Mohit received his B.S. in Neuroscience from the University of Texas, Austin where he researched learning and decision-making with Dr. Alison Preston, Dr. Sharon Noh, and Dr. Christine Coughlin. He previously worked on a number of projects investigating decision-making and learning in older and younger adults using neuroimaging (fMRI) and computational modeling techniques.

After graduating, he chose to further explore his passions and interests in research. He’s interested in learning more about how decision making is effected by age, and the conditions of learning and decision-making across ones lifespan that could be improved. Mohit’s next position after leaving the CCNL is as Clinical Research Associate, Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, Department of Pediatrics, Dell Medical School at the University of Texas, Austin. Outside the lab, Mohit enjoys reading running, chess, and yelping!

Brianna Sarcos graduated from UC Irvine in 2020 with a major in Psychology and minor in Biological Sciences. She then worked as a post-bacc research assistant at Yale Medical School, and will begin her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Temple University in Fall 2023. She is interested in examining the impact of early life adversity on neurocognitive development to promote engagement in maladaptive behaviors. She has a specific interest in exposure to violence and the ways in which it alters neurocognitive processes (e.g, emotion regulation, learning, and memory) to result in violent/aggressive behaviors. In her free time, Brianna enjoys watching True Crime, traveling, and hanging out with her dog, Pork Chop.

Sanaa is a third-year undergraduate psychology major with a minor in neuroscience at Texas A&M University. She is interested in the underlying mechanisms of executive functions and how adverse life events and racial demographics influence them. She wants to understand how trauma and race-based stress affect processes like decision-making and planning in order to highlight the biological severity of discrimination.