N·O·R·A
the Neurodevelopment Of Reasoning Ability

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People

Silvia Bunge Ph.D.

co-Principal Investigator
Associate Professor
University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Bunge uses behavioral and brain imaging techniques to examine how we control our thoughts and actions to make them consistent with our internal goals. Her goals are to elucidate the mechanisms underlying control processes, as well as to characterize the nature of the contributions of the prefrontal cortex and associated brain regions to cognitive control, in children and adults.


Emilio Ferrer Ph.D.

co-Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor
University of California, Davis

Dr. Ferrer is interested in methods to analyze change and intra-individual variability, in particular latent growth analysis and linear and nonlinear dynamical systems. His current research in this area involves techniques to model nonlinear developmental processes and the dynamics of affective processes in dyadic interactions.


 
brian johnson

Elizabeth O'Hare

Post-Doctoral Scholar

Libby’s (AB ’00, Ph.D., ’08) research interests involve characterizing relationships between brain structure and brain function during development.  Her doctoral dissertation (UCLA) examined the structural and functional neural correlates of verbal working memory development in children with and without prenatal alcohol exposure.  Her current work focuses on examining the brain bases of the development of fluid reasoning ability.


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Kirstie Whitaker

Graduate Student

Kirstie Whitaker (BSc in Physics, University of Bristol, UK; MSc in Medical Physics, University of British Columbia, Canada).  She has held Commonwealth and Fulbright scholarships.  She is interested in imaging and investigating the structural development of the brain in childhood and adolescence.  She can most often be found on a mountain: skiing in winter and hiking in summer.  She has taught freestyle dance for many years as a member of the International Dance Teachers Association.


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Chloe Green

Lab Manager

Chloe graduated from UC Davis, where she earned highest honors in Psychology. Her recent research includes an investigation of how computerized cognitive training influences children’s ability to pay attention in academic situations. She is interested in integrating insights regarding brain functioning with insights into behavior. She hopes to eventually design her own research on enhancing intellectual capability in children and adults with learning disabilities and age-related cognitive decline.


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Mehdi Bouhaddou

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Mehdi is a Senior at Cal studying Cognitive Neuroscience. He works as a Research Assistant for the NORA project by helping collect data for the MRI portion of the study. He spends his days thinking about the brain, sleeping, eating, and thinking about the brain some more! He is truly interested in the discrepancies between the conscious and subconcious mind and how neural circuits create thought. After graduation, he hopes to pursue graduate work in Neuroscience or perhaps become a doctor.


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Sasha Gupta

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Sasha is about to receive her BA in Neurobiology from UC Berkeley. She is very interested in Clinical Neurology and is currently applying to Medical School for Fall 2010. 


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Megan Winkelman

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Megan is a recent Berkeley High graduate and will be a freshman at Stanford University in the fall.  At Stanford she hopes to study human biology and psychology, and to pursue her interests in depression and cognitive training.