My research focuses on the acquisition of structured visual information and the conversion of this information into sophisticated internal representations for controlling behavior. We use an integrated approach with three main components, human visual and learning experiments, computational modeling of learning, and multi-electrode recording from behaving animals. The recurrent theme of our work is the pursuit of a statistically based and biologically sound framework to link low-level visual mechanisms (e.g., adaptation) with the development and learning of higher level complex features and constancies for efficient visual representations of objects and scenes.

I graduated from Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary as a physicist and did my PhD in Péter Érdi's Computational Neuroscience Group at RIPNP, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The topic of my thesis was the generation and modulation of hippocampal oscillations. In 2004 I joined Eörs Szathmáry's Collegium Budapest group where my focus shifted on functional models of the nervous system. My research interests cover the fields of representation of information in the brain, neural information processing and neural coding. I use machine learning techniques to characterize the computations the brain has to perform and to relate neural activity to formal goals.

I received my Masters in Psychology from Brandeis University in 2006 and am currently a Research Assistant and Lab Manager in the Fiser Lab. My current project involves utilizing both AFNI and SPM for a traditional data analysis of FMRI data and a non-traditional analysis utilizing DCM and correlational network analysis to determine the functional connectivity of cortical areas implicated in an implicit statistical learning paradigm. I am interested in the neural correlates of visual perception, specifically how social stimuli are perceived and processed in initial impression formation and used to update existing representations of others.

I graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 2005 with a B.A. in Psychology. While an undergraduate, I studied how changes in vision with aging can impact cognitive performance. I was also involved in research on the physiological correlates of emotion regulation. My research in the Fiser Lab focuses on identifying the visual structures and dynamical tuning processes humans use to perceive their natural environment by using classical psychophysics along with eye-tracking systems and large-size displays. I am currently researching what role higher order correlations among basic scene attributes, such as orientation and contrast, may play in visual perception. I am also interested in exploring the neural correlates of visual perception using awake behaving animals and chronically implanted microwire electrodes.

I'm originally from Salem, Oregon. I went to the University of Oregon as an undergraduate, where I majored in biology. I became interested in neuroscience after taking a systems class my junior year. I then spent five months in Melbourne, Australia studying abroad. When I came back, I started working in a lab investigating the auditory system in barn owls. I defended my thesis in 2003 on the aspects of sound stimuli that are necessary for the neuronal suppression of echoes in the inferior colliculus in the midbrain. In 2004, I joined the Peace Corps as a volunteer teacher of English in Ukraine. I taught 7th-11th graders 18 classes a week in the village of Zalishchyky. I also had an English club and won a grant project for new English textbooks, cassette players, and a copier. I came to Brandeis in the fall of 2006, and joined the Fiser Lab in May of 2007. I am interested in using electrophysiology to understand how the brain interprets incoming stimuli in different contexts. We plan to investigate the effects of awareness on visual processing and spontaneous cortical activity through different levels of wakefulness in rats and ferrets.

I am a first year PHD student in Cognitive Neuroscience. My current work involves the analysis of multichannel neural signal data. In the future, my projects will focus more on computational cognitive modeling using a Bayesian framework. My academic interest is in higher-level inner representation of visual environment and scale invariant object recognition.

I joined the Fiser lab while working towards my MS degree in neuroscience, where my first project was using an eye-tracker to study object recognition of images presented foveally and para-foveally. I am currently in the first year of the PhD program, and my next project will focus on development in visual processing, and statistical learning in both infants and adults. I'm particularly interested in how infants learn to understand visual input, how eye movements are involved in the process, and how the brain changes with this learning.

I am currently a senior at Brandeis University working towards my B.A. in Psychology, and have been working in the Fiser lab since my sophomore year. I am currently working on a senior thesis investigating statistical learning in rats, using a behavioral reward paradigm involving a simple shape discrimination task. I am also investigating statistical learning in adult human participants using more complex shapes and scenes. During the summer of 2006, under the direction of Dr. Lizabeth Romanski at the University of Rochester, I gained further experience examining the role of the prefrontal cortex as a multimodal region encoding both auditory and visual neuronal pathways as relates to non-human primate communication. I am interested in further pursuing a degree in animal behavior. Specifically, I am interested in how social communication is learned and propagated in animals, and how it modifies or directs behavior.

I am a neuroscience/biology/psychology major in the class of 2009 at Brandeis University. After joining the Fiser lab in the Spring of 2006, I began a statistical learning experiment which involved training rats to discriminate between various shapes. For my senior thesis, I am currently helping to conduct a psychophysical experiment which analyzes eye movements in humans while they complete a specific visual task. This task involves the participants comparing a reference image to the same image that has been filtered for various levels of coherence. After graduating, I plan on attending medical school and further pursuing my career in neuroscience. In addition to my work in the Fiser lab, I have also interned at Florida Atlantic University under Professor Betty Tuller helping to study phonological learning of native and non-native sounds.

I am a senior at Brandeis University, majoring in Neuroscience, Biology, and Psychology. I am helping to conduct an independent research project involving statistical learning while supplementing the data with an eye-tracker. When not in lab, I enjoy traveling, listening to music, and eating lots of chocolate.

I am an undergraduate neuroscience, biology, and psychology major at Brandeis University in the class of 2009. I am investigating visual learning. I work with eye tracking technology using statistical learning paradigms. My interests include learning, perception, and cognition.