PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Ben Deen, PhD is a social cognitive neuroscientist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Tulane University. His research investigates how specialized brain systems enable us to understand other people and their actions and how such systems develop during infancy and childhood, using neuroimaging (fMRI), intracranial electrical recordings (iEEG), and behavior.

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LAB MANAGER

Adya earned her BA in Neuroscience from Bates College in 2024. Adya’s interests lie in the application of brain imaging methods to the prediction and prevention of neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as in identifying neural biomarkers that may inform forensic risk assessment.

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW

Taylor earned her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Tulane University in 2025. Prior to her graduate training, she received dual B.S. degrees in Biological Sciences and Psychology from Louisiana State University. Broadly, Taylor’s research explores how and why we attend to and remember familiar people within our social networks. To do so, her work employs behavioral paradigms, neuroimaging (fNIRS and fMRI), and social network mapping to further examine the roles of reward and familiarity in shaping familiar identity representations.

GRADUATE STUDENT

Isabel Nichoson is a Neuroscience PhD graduate student in the Social Memory Lab. She received her BA in Neuroscience from Wellesley College (2021). Her research investigates how familiarity and self-identification systems develop in infancy and early childhood, especially within the context of higher-level visual processing networks, using neuroimaging (fNIRS and fMRI).

GRADUATE STUDENT

Abbey Gantz is a graduate student in the Tulane Psychology PhD program. She received her BS in Experimental Psychology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2024. Her current research interests include brain areas supporting personal perspective and person-specific Theory of Mind, and the functional specificity of social brain regions such as the temporal pole and medial prefrontal cortex.

MEDICAL STUDENT

Janis Park is a medical student at Tulane University. She received her B.S. in Neurobiology and Art History from Georgetown University in 2021. Her research interests lie in the medical applications of neuroscience research, specifically the use of radiology techniques to better understand various regions of the brain and their potential roles in cognitive development and neurological disorders.

GRADUATE STUDENT

Tony is a Master’s student in Tulane 4+1 Neuroscience Program. Currently, his research focuses on characterizing the function and connectivity of specific face areas within the human anterior temporal lobes. With his computer science and neuroscience background, Tony aims to pursue a PhD in the field of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs).

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Stephen Graziose is a senior at Tulane University. He is a neuroscience major, and plans to attend medical school to become a neurologist. Stephen’s primary research interests include using neuroimaging to determine cortical regions supported human social cognition.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Camille is an undergraduate student at Tulane University. She is pursuing a psychology major, a philosophy minor, and a design minor. She plans to pursue a master's degree in clinical psychology after graduation. Camille aspires to become a family therapist with concentrations in child-parent relationships and addiction and recovery. Her primary research interests include neurological disorders and long-term memory.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Ian is a junior at Tulane University studying psychology, philosophy, and French. His work in the lab so far has centered on the functional mapping of areas of the anterior temporal lobe associated with social reasoning and memory. He is interested in how findings from social cognitive neuroscience can inform diagnoses and treatments in psychiatry.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Emily Aymond is a junior at Tulane University double majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology and Computer Science. She hopes to attend medical school to pursue obstetrics and gynecology. Emily's primary research interests include social perception and development of infants' social behavior.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Katie Tong is a Junior at Tulane University majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Studio Art.  She currently works with the lab's parcellation project, mapping cortical areas within the medial temporal lobe.  Katie hopes to attend medical school after her bachelor's degree at Tulane University. Her main interests include cognitive neuroscience and neuroendocrinology. 

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Roma Kolluru is a junior at Tulane University studying Neuroscience and Cognitive Studies on the premed track. She is currently working on collecting data for a study which measures social memory from narrative videos. Roma's primary research interests focus on understanding the complexities of neurological diseases and exploring the environmental factors that influence their development and progression.