People
Marta Garrido | Laboratory Head
Professor Marta Garrido leads the Cognitive Neuroscience and Computational Psychiatry Laboratory and is the Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Hub at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences. Marta is also a Research Program Lead at the Graeme Clark Institute for Biomedical Engineering. Marta initially trained in Engineering Physics at the University of Lisbon, did a PhD in Neuroscience at University College London and has held positions at UCLA and the University of Queensland. Marta’s team uses a combination of brain imaging techniques and computational modelling to understand how the brains of typical individuals and people with psychiatric conditions learn from experience and make decisions.
The quality of Marta’s work has been recognised by prestigious awards, including the 2020 Paxinos-Watson Prize from the Australasian Neuroscience Society and the 2019 Aubrey Lewis Award from Biological Psychiatry Australia. Marta is a former DECRA Fellow, the past Chair of the Organisation for Human Brain Mapping, Australian Chapter, and an advocate for Open Science.
University of Melbourne Based
Morgan Kikkawa
I am currently completing a PhD that focuses on Predictive coding theory. My work will use EEG and machine learning to investigate how the visual system creates probabilistic expectations. This work will help test some of the claims of predictive coding and, hopefully, help us better understand how visual expectations are formed. Outside the lab, I enjoy mixed martial arts and bouldering.
Daniyal Rajput
I am a PhD student at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne. My research interests revolve around investigating the impact of stress on the brains of healthy individuals by examining the behavioral, computational, and physiological mechanisms. Prior to pursuing my PhD, I completed my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Liaquat University of Medical Health Science, Pakistan, and my master's degree in Biomedical Engineering from the National Central University, Taiwan. During my master's degree, I worked as a research assistant at a Computational Neuroscience Lab, where I had the opportunity to hone my research skills. Outside of my academic life, I enjoy playing table tennis and snooker, experimenting with new recipes, and taking a relaxing stroll through the bustling streets of Melbourne's CBD and the scenic Yarra River Walk.
Josh Corbett
I am a Master of Philosophy student. I am interested in how the brain is able to perform complex computations based on limited and noisy sensory information. My project involves using 7T fMRI to examine how uncertainty is encoded in the cortical column, which will hopefully inform basic theories of how the brain works.
Arshiya Sangchooli
I am a MPhil student. Arshiya obtained his MD from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences and is currently an MPhil student at the Cognitive Neuroscience and Computational Psychiatry Lab. He develops probabilistic tractography workflows to investigate the development of subcortical amygdalar pathways during adolescence and their cognitive and behavioral correlates, using diffusion MRI and other data from large neuroimaging datasets. Broadly, he is interested in functional and structural neuroimaging and computational modelling to answer questions about how the brain functions in health and disease.
Sophie Lin
I am a post-doc in the lab. I am interested in how the brain identifies structures, acts and adapts, through the Predictive Coding framework, in a world with uncertainty. I use perceptual decision tasks, computational modelling and functional neuroimaging to study these questions. Outside the Lab, I sometimes conduct my real-life uncertainty ‘fieldwork’ at a local kickboxing club.
Kav Bandara
How does the brain generate consciousness? How does the physical matter of the brain produce the sensation of 'redness', the experience of smelling a rose, or the feeling of happiness? This question remains one of the most puzzling questions of modern science and my PhD project aims to investigate the neural basis of consciousness using visual experiments alongside neural recordings and computational modelling. Outside of the lab, you can find me cooking, exploring the restaurants of Melbourne, or playing guitar.
Isabella Goodwin
I am currently completing a PhD investigating the behavioural and neural correlates of psychotic-like experiences in the nonclinical continuum of psychosis. My project involves understanding how individual differences in perceptual decision-making along with alterations in white matter structure may result in confounding perceptual experiences. Outside the lab, you will most likely find me at a gig listening to live music!
Linzhi Tao
I am a PhD student interested in understanding the brain circuitry underlying predictive coding. I am currently working on a project that investigates how the brain encodes the precision of visual expectations using 7T fMRI. Outside the lab, I just started cycling and swimming, and I really enjoy them!
Prabhakar AT
I am a PhD student at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne. My research involves investigating the brain areas that process facial expressions and motion. I’m also a practicing neurologist at the Christian Medical College Vellore. I joined my PhD at Melbourne as part of the Health Leaders program initiated by the University of Melbourne. Back at Vellore, I’m actively involved in clinical teaching, and I head the cognitive neuroscience and clinical phenomenology lab at CMC Vellore. My areas of interest include clinical phenomenology, cognitive Neuroscience, decision neuroscience, and neuro-philosophy. Outside of my academic life, I enjoy trekking, bicycling and endurance running.
Yubing Zhang
I am a PhD student interested in affective neuroscience and developmental psychology. My current project aims to utilize brain imaging techniques (fMRI), decision-making tasks, and computational modeling to investigate how external and self-oriented safety information is processed in adolescents' brains. Outside the lab, I’m mostly staying at home – reading, playing video games, or pretending to be a mushroom🍄
Mengxue (Amy) Cai
I am currently completing an Honour degree of Psychology at University of Melbourne. My current project aims to use Electro-encephalography (EEG) to investigate the relationship between negative psychotic symptoms, such as reduced motivation and pleasure, and the brain's response to surprising sounds. Outside of the lab, I enjoy watching movies, reading novels, and exploring delicious cuisine.
Reine Jardine
I am a fourth year honours student investigating how psychotic experiences relate to brain responses of surprise. Specifically, I want to understand what sensory prediction errors can tell us about positive symptoms of first-episode psychosis among young people. I try to answer this question by recording and examining EEG data recorded during certain sensory processing and target detection tasks. This data could help us better understand the neurological mechanisms underlying the early stages of psychosis. Aside from my work in the lab, I spend much of my free time tending to my garden, playing video games, and playing with my cats 😺