Research Assistant

Description:

The Melcher Perception and Active Cognition Laboratory in the Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, seeks to recruit a Research Assistant to work on the mechanisms underlying how the brain rapidly processes incoming sensory information in order to guide our behavior.

Current research in the Perception and Active Cognition Laboratory focuses on four major themes:

• Speed of processing: sensory information arrives continuously and needs to be processed rapidly, according to our goals. Work in our laboratory has shown that the speed of visual processing varies across people and is linked to specific neural processes that can be measured with EEG/MEG. Speed of processing also varies depending on factors such as emotional state, context, music listening, and time of day.
• The role of prediction: our brains use information from the past to make, and update, predictions about upcoming sensory input. Work in our lab has shown that both longer-term learning and current information, such as a view of a stimulus in extrafoveal vision, leads to predictions that can change our perceptual interpretation of objects and events. Our lab has shown that predictions are important in quickly processing information across eye movements when looking around or reading.
• Brain and body rhythms: Sensory and cognitive processing varies over time, linked to brain oscillations, external input (such as music) and body movements. Work in our laboratory investigates how external input shapes these rhythms, and how these rhythms shape our perceptions and actions.
• Clinical implications, including individual differences in sensory sensitivity and temporal processing: We are investigating how individual differences in attention, sensory processing and working memory influence performance in tasks in both control and in people diagnosed with dyslexia, autism, schizophrenia and other psychological and neurological conditions.

The successful applicant will drive a fascinating project on one or more of these major themes. This will involve planning and executing experimental research with human participants. The candidate will work in a multidisciplinary environment consisting of PhD-level scientists, graduate students and undergraduate students.

Applicants must have a degree (Bachelor’s, or preferentially a Master’s degree) in Psychology, Neuroscience or a related field. Excellent experimental and neuroimaging skills relevant to the project are required, as demonstrated by publication in international scientific journals with a good ranking.