Research Overview
Your brain is a time machine.
The same neural systems that allow you to vividly re-experience the past also allow you to predict the future and imagine hypothetical scenarios.
We uncover these neural mechanisms and apply them to develop interventions that support adaptive behavior.
We uncover these neural mechanisms and apply them to develop interventions that support adaptive behavior.
Our Methods
Research Themes
Learning from Error
How do we update our memories and beliefs in response to surprising feedback?
Our brains draw on prior experiences to generate predictions. When those predictions are violated, we experience a prediction error– surprise! In response, our flexible brains update our memories and beliefs, so we can make more accurate predictions in the future.
Our lab studies how brain regions like the hippocampus, ventral tegmental area, and ventral striatum generate predictions, signal errors, and facilitate adaptive updating.
Our brains draw on prior experiences to generate predictions. When those predictions are violated, we experience a prediction error– surprise! In response, our flexible brains update our memories and beliefs, so we can make more accurate predictions in the future.
Our lab studies how brain regions like the hippocampus, ventral tegmental area, and ventral striatum generate predictions, signal errors, and facilitate adaptive updating.
Episodic Simulation
How do we imagine future or hypothetical scenarios to guide adaptive behavior?
The same network of brain regions—including the hippocampus and default mode network—enable us to recall past episodes and imagine new ones. Our brains draw on past experiences to construct and visualize future or hypothetical scenarios.
Practicing imagination—often called episodic simulation or episodic future thinking—engages this brain system. We study imagination as an intervention strategy to encourage future-oriented decisions, change perceived risk, enhance learning from error, and motivate behavior change.
The same network of brain regions—including the hippocampus and default mode network—enable us to recall past episodes and imagine new ones. Our brains draw on past experiences to construct and visualize future or hypothetical scenarios.
Practicing imagination—often called episodic simulation or episodic future thinking—engages this brain system. We study imagination as an intervention strategy to encourage future-oriented decisions, change perceived risk, enhance learning from error, and motivate behavior change.
Information Consumption
What motivates people to read and share information? How do we integrate or reconcile old and new information in memory?
We study how motivation and emotion shape how people seek and share information, and what they remember. For example, several projects explore how imperative motivation ("urgent mode") drives immediate action to address salient goals, whereas interrogative motivation ("explore mode") promotes curious information seeking and enhances memory formation.
Other related work explores strategies to correct misinformation and promote the spread of truthful information.
We study how motivation and emotion shape how people seek and share information, and what they remember. For example, several projects explore how imperative motivation ("urgent mode") drives immediate action to address salient goals, whereas interrogative motivation ("explore mode") promotes curious information seeking and enhances memory formation.
Other related work explores strategies to correct misinformation and promote the spread of truthful information.