Biography

I am interested in the interplay between biology and behavior. After receiving a B.A. in biopsychology from Vassar College, I went on to obtain my M.S. in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Oregon. At Cambridge University, I am pursuing my Ph.D. at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. My research has focused on understanding how people control their behavior. Because the capacity to stop undesirable responses is related to positive life outcomes such as academic achievement and health, I hope to make both theoretical and practical contributions. For my dissertation, I have tested whether two superficially different types of responses, thoughts and actions, are stopped using the same cognitive processes. I have also been investigating to what extent different types of stopping rely on common brain regions, and whether individual differences in ability to prevent unwanted actions is related to differing brain structure or connectivity.