I study the amygdala with Daniel Salzman at the Zuckerman Institute. It is understood that the brain will more readily direct attention to stimuli (cues) in the environment that are either motivationally or emotionally significant. The amygdala is a region of the brain that is involved in the representation of these cues and their outcomes. Although amygdala neurons differentiate between positive and negative cues, it was unclear amygdala also includes retains information about cue location. Recently, it was demonstrated that the amygdala does integrate spatial and motivational information. However, these experiments only divided the visual hemifield into two halves, along the vertical meridian. We are working to understand the integration of the spatial and emotional information more thoroughly. I am also working with Dr. Yunglin Gazes, Dr. Christian Habeck of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain in collaboration with Dr. Nora Vanegas-Arroyave to create a Deep CNN to predict cognitive decline based on fMRI image data. Outside of research, I spend my time teaching, learning, and participating in student groups. I am a teaching assistant for the advanced programming class at Columbia. I am an undergraduate studying Biology, Computer Science, and Philosophy, and I am a member of the Columbia Science Review, Club Zamana, and the Rabi Scholars Student Association. I love exploring the city, particularly for good food! In my spare time I like to read and run - running the NYC Marathon this year!