People – Brain and Social Cognition Lab

LINDSAY BOWMAN, PH.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Ph.D., Psychology, University of Michigan, 2013
B.S., Psychology, Queens University, 2007
Dr. Lindsay Bowman is an assistant professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, and Principal Investigator of the Brain and Social Cognition (BASC) Lab. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Developmental Psychology. With experience as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Maryland Child Development Lab and as a research fellow in the Labs of Cognitive Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, her work brings together unique perspectives on neuroscience, cognition, social understanding, and development. Her lab uses a combination of neuroscientific and behavioral methods to understand how cognition develops over infancy and childhood and how these early developments set the course for social success or impairment.

Aditi Hosangadi

B.S.., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2021

Aditi received her B.S. in Psychology from UC Davis in 2021. While at Davis, she was a research assistant at here at the Brain and Social Cognition lab where she studied how emotion perception relates to theory of mind in preschool children. After graduating, she worked at Dr. Elizabeth Redcay’s Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience lab, where she managed a study on neural similarity and social interaction. In the future, she hopes to attend graduate school to study developmental cognitive neuroscience. Outside the lab, she loves to read, cook, travel to new places, and eat Thai food.

RUOHAN XIA
B.A., Psychology & Criminal Justice, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2018
M.Ed., Educational Psychology – Applied Developmental Science, University of Virginia, 2020
M.A., Psychology, University of California, Davis 2023
Ruohan is a PhD student in BASC Lab. She earned her M.Ed. in Educational Psychology with an emphasis on Applied Developmental Science from the University of Virginia in 2020 and she earned her M.A. in Psychology from UC Davis in 2023. At UVA, she used dyadic hyperscanning EEG paradigms to investigate parent-child engagement behaviors in various activities in families with or without an autistic child. Being able to investigate parent-child dyads as a whole and witnessing how a child’s emotional response in different situations is impacted by the family dynamics made her wonder what roles family and cultural traditions could play in children’s development. To continue exploring the reciprocal parent-child interactions, Ruohan’s research in the BASC Lab aims to understand the cyclical process between parental response to emotional disclosures and children’s emotional development, and to explore how social conventions and cultural values serve as contexts in the process.

ZOE PESTANA
B.A., Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Hampshire College, 2018
M.A., Psychology, University of California, Davis 2023
Zoe is PhD student in the lab. She graduated from Hampshire College in 2018 with a B.A. in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology. Her senior thesis was on the neural correlates of chronic pain and empathy through the use of electrophysiological methods (ERP). After graduating, Zoe worked as a lab manager at the University of Florida with Dr. Lisa Scott studying the neurological underpinnings of how visual experiences influence learning and attention in infants and young children. She earned her M.A. in Psychology from UC Davis in 2023. In the BASC Lab, Zoe investigates individual differences in the neurodevelopment of emotion processing in infants and preschool children. She is interested in how the brain wires up early in development for face processing predicts both adaptive outcomes (prosociality/empathy) and maladaptive outcomes (anxiety). When not in the lab, Zoe enjoys hiking, baking, and fostering rescue animals.

SONJA HUNTER

M.A Psychology Rutgers university, New Jersey 2021

B.S Psychology University of North Texas, 2019

B.A French University of North Texas, 2019

Sonja is a PhD student in the BASC lab. She received her master’s degree from Rutgers University in 2021 where she completed a thesis on Irrelevant Speech Inhibition in the Bilingual context with Dr. Lisa Payne. Before attending Rutgers, she received her B.S in Psychology and B.A in French at the University of North Texas. Her senior thesis investigated reading patterns in interpersonal decentering narratives in the NeuroCognition lab with Dr. Anthony Ryals. Currently in the BASC Lab she is investigating the developmental neural correlates of Uncertainty Monitoring using electroencephalogram. Broadly, Sonja is interested in the development of social cognition, Executive Functions, and metacognition, including neurodivergent development. How do our brains develop the tools we use to process social information and what developmental variations can lead to interacting with social contexts differently? When Sonja is not in the lab she enjoys drawing and playing tabletop games!

OLUFEMI SHAKUUR NYABINGI

B.A. Neuroscience and Human Behavior and Cognition, 2021

Olufemi (she/hers) is a Ph.D. student in the BASC Lab. She completed her Bachelors at Northwestern University, majoring in Neuroscience with a concentration in Human Behavior and Cognition. In her time at Northwestern she had the opportunity to work with Dr. Elizabeth Norton researching language development and brain activity in toddlers. After graduating, she spent two years as a Faculty Research Assistant at the University of Maryland with Dr. Nathan Fox, working primarily on experimental design and protocol development for the infant EEG portion of the nationwide HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study. Olufemi is interested in exploring how parenting behaviors and early home dynamics relate to the development of regulatory behaviors and processes in infants and children. In her free time Olufemi enjoys painting, cooking, and going on walks, and is looking forward to exploring more of the beautiful nature that California has to offer!

IMAAN SYED
Imaan (joined lab in Spring 2022) is a second year undergraduate research assistant on the recruitment team. Her major is cognitive science with an emphasis In neuroscience and she’s interested in anything having to do with psychology. She has always wanted to work with children so she is hoping to pursue a career that combines medicine and developmental psychology. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, watching Netflix, shopping, and eating good food.

XINZHU CHAI
Xinzhu (joined lab in Fall of 2022) is an undergraduate research assistant in video coding team. She is majoring in psychology quantitative emphasis and plans to pursue a PhD degree in the future. She is particularly interested in how children become familiar with the world and the way they establish initial social relationships; she also curious about the process that emotions are manipulated by the brain and how to develop a strong mentality from an early age. When she has free time, Xinzhu enjoys playing the piano, working out in the gym, and hanging out with her friends and her roomie’s pet dog!

GABE CABALLERO
Gabe (joined lab in Fall 2022) is a second year undergraduate research assistant on the participant testing team of PFP. He is majoring in psychology and planning to double major in human development with a minor in exercise biology. His interests include Theory of Mind principles as well as the cognitive behavioral approach in adolescence and adulthood. His goal is to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and study sport psychology, providing clinical therapy to athletes struggling with mental health issues, lack of confidence, motivation, extreme pressure, etc. with his ultimate goal being part of a clinical staff on a professional sports team (preferably the NBA). Gabe enjoys going out and socializing with friends, playing video games, journaling, and visiting the city (he would love to live in San Francisco or the Bay Area).

SIMONA KAMAT

Simona (joined lab in winter 2023) is an undergraduate research assistant and second-year student majoring in Cognitive Science with a computational emphasis. Simona is interested in the development of intelligence and personality in identical twins, as Simona is an identical twin herself. Her goal is to obtain a career that combines developmental psychology, artificial intelligence, and data science together. In her spare time, Simona likes to travel with her family, binge-watch shows with her friends, and play video games with her sister.

MIA LAM

Mia (joined lab in spring 2023) is an undergraduate research assistant on the Prosocial Foundations Project testing team. She is a third year Psychology major and Sociology minor. She is interested in psychopathology within children and adolescents, specifically how social relationships impact the dimensions of psychological disorders. In the future, she hopes to become a clinical psychologist. Mia loves painting, dancing (pole/hiphop), and has been a competitive swimmer for over a decade.

GURLEEN KAUR
Gurleen (joined lab in summer 2023) is an undergraduate research assistant research assistant on the participant testing team of PFP. She is majoring in Human Development and planning to double major in Psychology with a minor in Public Health. Her interests include Theory of Mind principles as well as the cognitive behavioral approach that guides the behavior and life choices in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Her goal is to earn a Masters in Marriage Family Therapy. Gurleen enjoys spending time with her family, binge-watching shows with her roommate, and painting with her her sister.

MAITHREYI NARAYANAN

Maithreyi (joined lab in summer 2023) is an undergraduate research assistant on BBB testing team. She is majoring in Cognitive Science with a Computational emphasis and planning to double major in Quantitative Psychology. Her research interests lie in exploring the developmental aspects of cognitive functions in individuals and investigating the influence of environmental factors on the brain. In the future she hopes to learn more about how humans and computers can effectively communicate and collaborate to enhance user experiences. In her free time, she like to dance, spend time with her family, and watch films/tv shows.

KAYLEE CHRISTIANSON

Kaylee (joined the lab in Summer 2023) is a member of the participant recruitment team. She is majoring in cognitive science with a computational emphasis and minoring in human development. She is particularly interested in cognitive development from infancy to young childhood. She hopes to work in a career that focuses on creating programs and resources to help guide parents and children to developing a healthy brain that supports strong emotional regulation and executive functioning. Outside of all the school and work she enjoys crafting, being outside, and trying new sports.

COLBY PECK

Colby (joined lab in Summer 2023) is an undergraduate research assistant on the Prosocial Foundations Project testing team. She is a majoring in Biological Psychology and planning to double minor in Forensic Entomology and Jewish Studies. She is interested in the cognitive developmental process and how that intersects with behavioral psychology. Her goals for the future are to pursue a career as forensic psychologist or become a criminal psychologist. During her free time, she enjoys caring for plants, collecting records, and sightseeing.

Marie Trumm

Psychology, Senior; Transfer Student Interested in pursuing a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and/or a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor; I would like to work with families and individuals, helping them adjust and cope with a variety of life changes. Roles in the lab: Helping with EURP visits; helping children feel more comfortable during the visits and speaking with parents; coding; helping with recruitment process. My interests include interior design, spending time in nature, and reading

LINETTE JUN

Linette (joined lab in winter 2023) is an undergraduate research assistant on the participant recruitment team majoring in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior with a minor in Psychology. She is interested whether certain factors in a child’s development can influence the prevalence of specific behaviors and how they socially develop. Her career goal is to pursue medicine in hopes of becoming a pediatrician to work with children in the future. Linette likes to go traveling, backpacking, and painting during her free time as well as take care of her new family puppy Gomi.

HAILEY CHOW

Hailey (joined lab in fall 2023) is a second year undergraduate research assistant on the UERP participant recruitment team. She is majoring in cognitive science with a computational emphasis. Her interests include the intersection of the mind and human behavior with technology, and she hopes to explore that with fields such as cognitive neuroscience research, user experience research/design, or human-computer interaction. She enjoys spending quality time with her friends and being in nature, and you can often catch her dancing, playing music, and baking!

EESA SABOOH

Eesa (joined lab in winter 2024) is an undergraduate research assistant on the testing team for UERP. He is a second year pre-med student majoring in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior along with a psychology minor. He is heavily interested in learning about the cognitive development of children and what different factors have larger influences on the brain later in life. His hope for the future is to become a children’s psychiatrist or neurologist. In his free time he enjoys playing the electric bass and all things music, as well as building/painting plastic model kits.

RUOYU ZHOU

Ruoyu (joined lab Spring 2024) in an undergraduate research assistant on the testing team for UERP. She is a first-year student majoring in Psychology quantitative emphasis along with a French minor. She is fascinated by learning the development of cognitive processes in infants and children, as well exploring the impact of environment as a social factor on this development. Her long-term goal is to attend graduate school in social psychology and pursue a career in research. In her free time, she enjoys playing the piano and listening to music. She also likes to travel and visit local museums.

NOLAN CHING

Nolan (joined Spring 2024) is an undergraduate research assistant on the testing team for UERP. He is a first-year human development major interested in the development of the brain and how that process influences cognition throughout the lifespan. His goal is to improve his research skills and learn more about developmental psychology. In his free time, Nolan likes to read, play the saxophone, and explore the campus and city.

ALEJANDRO PAGAN

Alejandro (joined Spring 2024) is an undergraduate research assistant working for the participant recruitment team for UERP. He is a third-year psychology and philosophy double major. He is interested in cognitive neuroscience and how the nature of the mind involves behavior. His goal is to utilize newfound lab experiences and knowledge to explore this field in further detail. He eventually has hopes of obtaining a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and becoming a licensed therapist. In his free time, he plays ultimate frisbee for the Davis club team, goes on runs, goes on hikes, plays basketball, watches various professional sports, reads novels, and tries cooking new dishes.

MJ HEISE
Ph.D. in Psychology
Research Data Analyst at UCSF/Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital center for AIDS research

MARIYA CHERNENOK
B.A., Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, 2012, M.S.
M.S., Child Development, University of California, Davis, 2018

CHRISTOPHER R. GONZALES
Ph.D., Psychology, Arizona State University, 2018
B.A., Psychology, University of Northern Colorado, 2012

KATIE SO
B.S. in Cognitive Science (neuroscience emphasis), University of California, Davis, 2023
Katie plans to pursue a PhD in neuroscience

AMANDA MANANGAN
B.A. Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2022
B.A. Political Science, University of California, Davis, 2022

KRITI IYER
B.S., Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, 2024
In the future, Kriti hopes to continue exploring the intersection of development and neuroscience.

CHURONG XU
B.S. Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2024
B.A. Cognitive Science, University of California, Davis, 2024
Churong is currently applying to graduate programs and will be pursuing a master’s in mental health counseling.

ADRIEN WARD
A.B. Psychology and minor in Neuroscience, 2023.
Lab manager for Yuko Munakata’s lab at UC Davis

ADITI HOSANGADI
B.S., Psychology (Biological emphasis), University of California, Davis, 2021

SAFAH BHATTI
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2022
Safah is currently pursuing a master’s in the Eliot Pearson Human Development and Child Study program at Tufts University.

PAUL RUST
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2021
B.A., Cinema & Digital Media, University of California, Davis, 2021
Paul will be applying to schools to get a doctorate in clinical psychology or an M.S. in counseling.

KELLY KURATA
B.S., Psychology (Biological emphasis), University of California, Davis, 2020

MIRIAM GARFINKEL
B.S., Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, 2020
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2020

CASSIE NGUYEN
B.S., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2019

NINA VELASQUEZ SINGH
B.S., Cognitive Science (Neuroscience emphasis), University of California, Davis, 2019
B.A., Spanish, University of California, Davis, 2019

JOSEPH MUSSANO
B.S., Cognitive Science (Neuroscience emphasis), University of California, Davis, 2019

JORDAN THOMPSON
B.S., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2019

ELLICIA WONG
B.S., Human Development, University of California, Davis, 2018
Ellicia is currently pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy.

ALEXANDRA KERSHAW
B.S., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2018
Alex is currently pursuing a Masters in Nursing.

JILLIAN MCLENITHAN
B.S., Human Development, University of California, Davis, 2017
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2017
Jillian is currently pursuing her master’s degree in speech-language pathology at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

ARIEL MADRIGAL
BA in Psychology and a minor in Aging and Adult Development.
She is currently the Community Engagement Specialist at Empower Yolo and is planning to start applying to MSW and MFT programs.

HELEN VAN
B.S., Psychology, University of California, Davis 2023
She is currently applying to medical schools while working as a Mohs Histotechnician.

MELISSA KUCUKDEMIRCI
B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Human Development, University of California, Davis, 2023
She is volunteering with a Crisis Text Line as a crisis counselor.

ANNAH WEBB
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2019
Annah is working towards an M.S. in Counseling at Sacramento State, specializing in marriage child and family counseling.

KRISTEN KNAUS

B.A., Psychology, and minor in Human Development University of California, Davis, 2022

Kristen is currently pursuing a master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy at Pepperdine University.

KATE EVERHARDT
B.S., Psychology (Biological emphasis), University of California, Davis, 2021
Kate is working as a research assistant at the Anxiety Disorders Center and will be applying to graduate school in clinical psychology.

ALEX VARALLO
B.S., Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, 2021

LINA SAVAGE
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2020
Lina is currently pursuing a Masters in Art Therapy.

SHARLENE DELOS SANTOS
B.S., Human Development, University of California, Davis, 2020 M.S., Medical Health Science, Touro University California, 2021
Sharlene received a M.S. in Medical Health Science and will be attending Touro University California to receive her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree with intentions to become a primary care physician.

NATALIE ANDEN
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2020
Natalie is currently pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University.

SHARANI RAMESH
B.A., Cognitive Science, University of California, Davis, 2021
B.A., Design, University of California, Davis, 2021

JODY ZHOU
B.S., Cognitive Science, University of California, Davis, 2018
Jody is currently pursuing her PhD in Human Development at University of California, Davis.

COURTNEY JIMENEZ
B.S., Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, 2017
B.A., Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2017
Courtney is currently pursuing her PhD at Dartmouth College in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

AARON MINHAS
B.S., psychology (Biological Emphasis), University of California, Davis, 2022
Aaron is currently pursuing attending medical school.

DAVID CHANG
B.A. Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2022
David will be pursing a PhD in clinical psychology.

KAYLA LITTLE
B.A. Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2022
Kayla is planning to pursue a master’s in social work.

KARA HA
B.S., Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of California, Davis, 2022
B.A. Psychology, University of California, Davis, 2022
Kara is planning to pursue a PhD in developmental biology.

SERENA MON
A.B., Neuroscience, Princeton University, 2020
Serena is currently pursuing a PhD in communication sciences and disorders at Northwestern University.

UJASHI SHAH
B.S., Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, 2021
Ujashi will be attending University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine starting Fall 2022.

HALEY MAJOR: A.B. in Psychology, 2023

REESE LEE: A.B. in Psychology, 2023

SAMUEL ZAKI
Applying to medical school

SHARON TAN

LORELEI TAYBI

KATHLEEN LY

AKRITI DAS

KATHLEEN LY

TAMMY PHAN

AYUSHI AMBEKAR

ROWAN EL-ARABATY

HANNAH MIN

ZENA LABABIDI

DANIELLE HALL

PATRICE DELARA

ADITI JAIN

ABBIGAYLE LIBONATI

JAZMINE MINHAS

JIENEL VALENZUELA

KAASHVEE KUMAR

SHABAZ KHAN

ALLYSA DE VERA

SHREYA NENE

MELANY MEDINA

SOFIA SIMON

ALLYSON KANG

NABIYA HAIDER

ANA GARCIA

RYAN MCCABE

HANAN JAOUNI

Meet the Research Team

Principal Investigator

Lab Coordinator

Graduate Students

Research Assistants

Lab Alumni

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