CBN - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department
Allison Jack, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at George Mason University. She received her BA in Psychology and English at the College of William & Mary, followed by a PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Virginia and postdoctoral training at the Yale Child Study Center via a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Research Training Grant and the Yale School of Medicine James Hudson Brown-Alexander B. Coxe Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her background includes training in child psychopathology, social cognitive neuroscience, and imaging genetics, with specialization in neuroimaging and assessment of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Her published work includes peer-reviewed articles on ASD and social brain function in Human Brain Mapping, Scientific Reports, Cerebral Cortex, and the Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, among others. Prior to entering an academic career, she was involved in the instruction and care of children with ASDs and co-occurring intellectual disability. This experience motivated her to focus her research on the etiology of ASDs (that is, factors that contribute to the development of autism), especially how aspects of brain structure and function can help us better predict social behavior and ASD treatment outcomes. She has a particular interest in autistic girls and women, who are understudied and under-represented relative to boys and men on the spectrum. Her primary current project involves combining information from fMRI, behavior, and genetics to explore what makes autistic girls unique.
Current Research
I anticipate taking graduate students for Fall 2021. Diverse applicants, including neurodiverse applicants, are particularly encouraged to apply.
Job Titles:
- Master
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
- Krasnow Building
Aser Mohamed is a Master's student in the Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience program at George Mason University. He works in the lab of Dr. Theodore Dumas to study the effects of the NMDA receptor on learning and memory.
Current Research
PBNJ Lab:
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Brianna is a PhD candidate in the Animal Behavior & Cognition lab in the department of Psychology. Broadly, her interests include better understanding how evolution has influenced social cognition. Brianna is interested in studying domestic dogs and other animals to understand how domestication interacts with life experience to produce certain social behaviors or abilities. Her current research focuses on understanding how domestication and life experience influences the tendency to seek help from humans when confronted with an unsolvable problem. Her research utilizes both operant and classical conditioning techniques, as well as behavioral observations during novel experimental tasks that do not require learning. Brianna is also interested in human-animal interaction, and how it effects the well-being of humans. In addition to research, she has taught undergraduates in psychology since the start of her Ph.D studies at GMU. Brianna was recognized as an Outstanding Teaching Assistant at George Mason University in 2018 and is a true lover of psychology and sharing it with her undergraduates.
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Program Coordinator
Animal behavior and cognition, especially communication, social hierarchy, and the effects of domestication; the teaching of psychology
Dr. Davis has a background in Experimental Psychology, with a specialization in animal learning and memory. She is affiliated with the Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Program in the Psychology Department.
In 2003, the George Mason Alumni Society chose Dr. Davis as their Distinguished Professor of the Year. The Mason Staff Senate selected her for its first Supervisor of the Year Award in 2002. She was twice named Mid-Atlantic Region Advisor of the Year by Golden Key National Honour Society.
Artz, B., & Davis, D. B. (2017). Human-canine interactions: The impact of breed, training, and socialization on canine response to emotional cues of their owners and strangers. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA.
Davis, D. (2013). The effect of multiple-choice exam question order on student performance in an introductory psychology class. Atlantic Coast Teaching Conference, Sandy Hook, NJ.
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Emily Richard is pursuing her PhD in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience under the mentorship of Dr. Allison Jack. She completed her undergraduate studies at the George Washington University, where she graduated Cum Laude and with Special Honors in Psychology (concentration: Cognitive Neuroscience). Following her undergraduate work she took the position of Senior Research Assistant under Dr. Gregory Wallace in the Lab of Autism and Developmental Neuroscience. There she utilized structural MRI and behavioral measures to investigate both subclinical eating disorder traits and autism spectrum disorders, as well as eating behaviors in autism. She hopes to contribute to understanding of the female experience of autism and neural mechanisms thereof. In her free time, Emily loves teaching violin to young children and going on adventures with her fiancé and two Autralian Shepherds.
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Erin Doherty is a PhD student in Dr. Jane Flinn's laboratory studying animal models that explore the relationship between traumatic brain injury and stress.
Erin also works as an animal care technician in the Krasnow Institute and as an instructor for PSYC 373.
Education
B.S. Psychology, Neuroscience - Fredericksburg, University of Mary Washington, 2015
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Professional Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Isabella Lalena is a doctoral candidate in the Computational Social Neuroscience Group (CSNG), led by Dr. Thompson. Her current research interests include neuroimaging, brain stimulation, reinforcement learning, brain-computer interfaces, and pain modulation.
Examining how we recognize human movement and make sense of other peoples' actions and how this can be applied in specialized settings such as surveillance and in conditions in which human movement recognition may be impaired.
The ability to see how other people move is essential for many aspects of daily life - from things as simple as avoiding collisions to detecting suspicious behavior or recognizing someone else's emotions. The research efforts of the Perception & Action Neuroscience Group are focused on examining how we recognize human movement and make sense of other peoples' actions. We investigate these issues using a combination of behavioral paradigms, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and electroencephalography (EEG). The goal of the group's research is to further the understanding of how we see and act with others as part of everyday life, in specialized settings such as surveillance, and in conditions in which human movement recognition may be impaired.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Director
- Program Director
Dr. Flinn's research focuses on the role of metals in both behavior and physiology. Her research has emphasized the roles of zinc, copper and iron in learning and memory and also in macular degeneration. Her research currently focuses on two specific aspects of metals in behavior, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Her lab is developing genetically modified mice which model late onset Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of the disease and mice which contain both human amyloid and human tau. In Alzheimer's mice, increased zinc causes an impairment in memory, which may be due to decreased copper. Current studies are examining memory, affiliative behaviors, circadian rhythms, and the role of inflammation and zinc transporters in AD mice. The work on extinction has shown that increased levels of zinc, which may act through reducing copper levels, lead to an inability to extinguish a learned fear normally, a possible factor in PTSD.
Dr. Flinn was the chair of the Department of Psychology from 1984 to 1995. During her tenure, the department was ranked as one of the most improved programs by the National Chronicle of Higher Education. After stepping down as chair, she became the coordinator of the Biopsychology concentration and developed the PhD concentration in Biopsychology (now Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN)). In 2006, she took over the newly approved undergraduate BS in Neuroscience. The first students graduated in 2009, and there are now over 200 students in the program. Dr Flinn has received the David King Teaching Award and the University Mentoring Award.
Animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders; behavioral phenotyping; behavioral neuropharmacology
Dr. Brielmaier received her Ph.D. in Biopsychology (now Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience) from George Mason University in 2010. She returned to the Psychology Department as a faculty member after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Brielmaier's primary focus at GMU is teaching undergraduate biological psychology and neuroscience courses. She also currently serves as the director of the undergraduate Psychology Honors program. Dr. Brielmaier was the recipient of a George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award in 2016.
Dr. Brielmaier's background includes research on the neurobehavioral effects of adolescent nicotine exposure, mouse behavioral phenotyping, and modeling neuropsychiatric conditions in nonhuman animals. She is currently focused on research on student engagement and satisfaction in different course modalities and the use of case studies in neuroscience teaching.
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Laura McAuliffe is a second year Ph.D. student in the Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience program. She works in the lab of Dr. Theodore Dumas to study the effects of the NMDA receptor on learning and memory. She is currently researching the roles of individual GluN2 subunit domains on the induction of synaptic long-term depression through in vitro electrophysiology.
Laura graduated with honors from Christopher Newport University in 2021. While at the institution, her research consisted of studies in autism spectrum disorder, executive functioning and cognitive flexibility, and dyslexia. She also worked for the University of Virginia Center for Diabetes Technology to assist in type 1 diabetes clinical trials.
Job Titles:
- Working Memory, EEG, Eye Tracking, Pupillometry, Face Recognition, Memory
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Lawrence is a 2nd year PhD student in the Animal Behavior & Cognition Lab, under Dr. Doris Bitler-Davis. Born and raised in Southeast Washington, D.C., he attended North Carolina A&T State University for a degree in business management. He commissioned in the Army in 2004, as an Military Intelligence officer. He was stationed in Germany and deployed to Iraq, but a neurological illness during deployment ended his active duty career. During his 18-month rehabilitation, he participated in the inaugural session of the Dog Tags training program with the Washington Humane Society in DC, which covered dog training techniques, behavioral assessments, and animal care & management. During his time within the program, he developed strong interests in animal behavior and animal social dynamics related to leadership.
His diverse interests include leadership studies, human perception of canine behavior, human-canine interaction benefits and attachment levels, and neuroimaging study. His current research efforts are intended to benefit the humane animal adoption community. He is currently developing theory on the animal adoption decision-making process and planning a research study that will several humane adoption centers in the DC Metro area.
Current Research
Developing a composite decision-making model and search process theory related to the animal adoptions
Job Titles:
- Director of the Honors Program
- Emeritus Faculty
Dr. Chrosniak has been the director of the Honors Program in Psychology at GMU since 2003. She received a B.S. degree in psychology from the University of Texas at Dallas and her Ph.D. in experimental psychology from The George Washington University. Her areas of research interest include implicit and explicit memory, cognitive aging, stress and health. More recently her interests have included the interaction effects of stress and cognitive processes and their effect on health and health behaviors.
Her published work has appeared in journals such as the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, Psychology and Aging, Journal of Geochemical Exploration, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Military Medicine.
She was nominated for a University Teaching Excellence Award in 1992 and 1999 and was a recipient of the University Teaching Excellence Award from George Mason University in 2000. She also received the Teacher of the Year Award from the GMU chapter of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology in 2003 and 2005. She was the recipient of the BIS Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award in 2010.
Current Research
Her more recent research, which has been in collaboration with Dr. Jane Flinn, has examined effects of trace metals on memory processes in animals. In addition, she has been involved in some research investigating the effects of behavior change and cognitive processes on stress reduction and cardiovascular health in military personnel
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
My name is Lindsay Shaffer and I'm a PhD candidate in the CBN program. My advisor is Dr. Jim Thompson.
Michaelis, K., Wiener, M., & Thompson, J. (2014) Passive listening to preferred motor tempo modulates corticospinal excitability. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 252.
Balci, F., Wiener, M., Cavdaroglu B. & Coslett, H.B. (2013) Epistasis effects of dopamine genes on interval timing and reward magnitude in humans. Neuropsychologia, 51(2), 293-308.
Gooch, C.M., Wiener, M., Hamilton, C.A., & Coslett, H.B. (2011) Temporal discrimination of sub- and supra-second time intervals: a voxel-based lesion mapping analysis. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 5: 59. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2011.00059.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Mr. Samuel Neff is a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology's Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience program at George Mason University. Currently, he works in Dr. Jane Flinn's lab on Alzheimer's research, with an interest in neurogenesis and the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Samuel completed his Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Idaho in 2015, and completed his Master of Science in Psychology, with an emphasis in Human Factors, at the University of Idaho in 2018. While completing his M.S. degree, he was heavily involved in the Palouse Injury Research lab, studying pedestrian safety and perceived behavioral control in simulated environments. After completion of his M.S. degree, he worked as a federal contractor primarily focused on designing, implementing and validating user interfaces.
Currently, Samuel is studying Alzheimer's in mice, with an interest in how neurogenesis within the dentate gyrus is involved with the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Due to his background in Human Factors, he is also interested in the possibility of using brain-computer interfaces in the treatment of various mental illnesses.
Samuel is an Associate Human Factors Professional (AHFP) through the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics (BCPE), and is an active member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) and the Society for Neuroscience (SFN).
Courses Taught
PSYC 304: Principles of Learning Lecture
PSYC 304: Principles of Learning Laboratory
PSYC 317: Cognitive Psychology
PSYC 373: Biopsychology Laboratory
Education
Doctoral student in Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience
Master of Science in Psychology, emphasis in Human Factors - University of Idaho 2018
Bachelor of Science in Psychology - University of Idaho 2015
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Ms. Grace Wild is a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology's Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience program at George Mason University. She currently works in Dr. Theodore Dumas's lab primarily examining late postnatal emergence in learning and memory abilities.
Grace completed her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience at Christopher Newport University in 2020. She graduated magna cum laude and was also honored as an Academic All-American. While there, her research included examining the neural bases of memory development using behavioral and eye-tracking methodologies to study human biases in decision-making. She also completed an intensive internship in Annapolis with the US Naval Academy's Neuropsychology Department administering and interpreting computerized neurocognitive assessments of midshipmen. She is currently interested in exploring developmental trends that occur in both normal and lesioned rodent subjects when completing specific learning and memory tasks in the lab for Physiological and Behavioral Neuroscience in Juveniles (PBNJ).
Education
Psychology doctoral student in Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience
Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience - Christopher Newport University 2020
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Samantha is a Master's student in the Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience program. She received her B.S. in Psychology from The College of William and Mary. She assisted in undergraduate research on emotion regulation in toddlers as well as the effects of drug use in pregnant mothers.
Current Research
Samantha currently works in Dr. Jane Flinn's lab researching the use of young blood plasma to treat traumatic brain injuries in mice.
Job Titles:
- Graduate Programs Administrator - Assists Psychology on - Campus Graduate Students With Academic Processes, Timeline Information, Graduation and Referrals to Campus Resources.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor of Psychology
Ted Dumas is an Associate Professor of Psychology who balances education and research to discover novel relationships between neural network activities and cognitive abilities and disseminate knowledge to students of all ages. Dr. Dumas received his B.S. degree at the University of Connecticut and double majored in Physiology and Neurobiology (Life Sciences Dept.) and Psychology. Having found his career niche in basic research, he then attended the University of Virginia where he earned his first individual NIH fellowship and received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in the Neuroscience and Behavior Program in the Department of Psychology. He then moved across the country to work as an NIH-funded postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Robert Sapolsky at Stanford University focusing on gene therapy techniques designed to prevent and promote recovery from brain injury. His second postdoctoral fellowship was at the University of Oregon with Dr. Clifford Kentros where he contributed to a large effort to produce novel transgenic mouse lines for the study of learning and memory. Dr. Dumas also delivers 6-hour continuing education seminars for health professionals on a national circuit and is heavily involved in engaging undergraduate and secondary school students in state-of-the art neuroscience. His laboratory has been funded by the Department of Defense, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the National Institutes of Health.
Current Research
Late postnatal emergence of spatial learning and memory (AMPA and NMDA receptors), real-time neural network activity in relation to spatial navigation (electrophysiological and optical recording in vivo), behavioral and neural regulation of the transition from attentive to automatic task performance, early life stress and adult cognitive ability, tardigrades as a model to understand the necessity for ongoing metabolism in memory storage, human spatial navigation tracking app development.
Neural substrates of memory, neural and cognitive development, stress and behavioral control, real-time brain activity focus in a multidisciplinary setting
Job Titles:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant