🦚 Principal Investigator

Dr. Jarrod Lewis-Peacock

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Department of Psychology
Department of Neuroscience
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Center for Learning and Memory
Institute for Neuroscience (Graduate Advisor)
The University of Texas at Austin

📩 jalewpea@utexas.edu
☎️ +1 (512) 232-2149 | 🐦 @jalewpea
🎓 C.V.  | NeuroTree | Google Scholar | ORCiD

"My primary interest concerns how the brain "forgets" things, both accidentally and on purpose. I use neuroimaging techniques to examine brain activity as healthy volunteers try to remember or forget things in the laboratory. Specifically, my lab investigates human working memory (our “mental workspace” for accomplishing goals) and its interactions with other cognitive functions including perception, attention, and long-term memory. Our research uses novel psychological tests, neuroimaging (fMRI and EEG), advanced analysis methods, and computational modeling to characterize core features of human cognition. Currently my research program focuses on three main threads: 1) long-term consequences of working memory operations, 2) removal of unwanted information from working memory, and 3) protection of working memory from distraction."

🦚 Postdoctoral Researchers

Dr. Laura Werner

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Ph.D., University of Nevada, Las Vegas

📩 laura.werner@utexas.edu

"My overall research goal is to understand how working memory functions. I am particularly interested in understanding forgetting mechanisms in working memory, such as removal. My current research focuses on how emotional memories are removed from working memory."

Dr. Diane Whitmer

Senior Research Fellow

Ph.D., University of California San Diego

📩 dianejwhitmer@utexas.edu

"My overall research interest is neuromodulation of cognitive function via real-time closed-loop neurofeedback. In particular, I am interested in whether memory competition and subsequent forgetting can be facilitated by closed-loop neurofeedback."

🦚 Doctoral Students

Zachary Bretton

Ph.D. student, Neuroscience (Year 5)

B.A., Boston University

📩 zbretton@utexas.edu

"I am intrigued by how we control and manipulate information in mind to help us navigate the complex worlds around us. My research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms and impacts of intentionally removing information from working memory. By merging computational and cognitive neuroscience techniques with recent developments in machine learning, I explore the intricacies of our cognitive control systems and their impacts on our memory."

Ziyao Zhang

Ph.D. student, Psychology (Year 3)

M.S., Lehigh University

📩 ziyaoz@utexas.edu

"My main interest lies in the interaction between memory and attention. Specifically, I am interested in how attentional control shapes memory representations and how internal representations influence ongoing processes. My research combines cognitive neuroscience and computational techniques to explore these questions."

Caleb Jerinic-Brodeur

Ph.D. student, Psychology (Year 2)

B.S., Arizona State University

📩 cjerinic@utexas.edu

"My main research interests revolve around the ability to control what we remember. More specifically, I’m curious as to how removal processes influence forgetting in the context of emotional information. I’m also interested in how these working memory mechanisms influence long-term memory outcomes."

Edward Leung

Ph.D. student, Neuroscience (Year 2)

B.S., B.A., University of Washington

📩 edjoeleung@utexas.edu

"I am interested in understanding the factors behind retrieval of long-term memories into working memory and how that affects behavior and decision making.Additionally, I want to explore retrieval in the context of psychological disorders such as PTSD or addiction, when maladaptive information dominates working memory processing."

🦚 Undergraduate Students

Neerul Gupta

🦚 LAB MANAGER

Senior, Psychology and Rhetoric & Writing

2022 URF Awardee

Lab mentor: Zachary

Joined Fall 2021

Rebeka Papanikolaou

Junior, Psychology

Lab mentor: Ziyao

Joined Fall 2022


Aisha Analil

Junior, Neuroscience

Lab mentor: Caleb

Joined Fall 2022

Ruhi Mukherjee

Junior, Public Health

Lab mentor: Laura

Joined Fall 2022

Sannidhi Koganti

Senior, Neuroscience and Human Development and Family Sciences

Lab mentor: Ziyao

Joined Summer 2023

Swetha Ayinala

Junior, Psychology

Lab mentor: Laura

Joined Fall 2023

Nikafareed Papari

Senior, Neuroscience

Lab mentor: Caleb

Joined Fall 2023

Isabella Smillie

Senior, Neuroscience

Lab mentor: Zachary

Joined Fall 2023

Amelia Canright

Sophomore, Neuroscience

Lab mentor: Caleb

Joined Fall 2023

Claire Chiang

Junior, Neuroscience and Piano Performance

Lab mentor: Edward

Joined Fall 2023

Emily Kolach

Sophomore, Neuroscience

Lab mentor: Ziyao

Joined Fall 2023

🦚 Lab Photos Through the Years

🦚 Alumni: Postdoctoral Researchers

Elizabeth Lorenc, Ph.D.

Staff Scientist, Behavior and Neuroimaging CoreBrown University

Tracy Wang, Ph.D.

Research Program ManagerMicrosoft Azure Engineering

🦚 Alumni: Doctoral Students

Justin Kilmarx, Ph.D.  '23

ResearcherAir Force Research Labs
Dayton, Ohio

Augustin Hennings, Ph.D.  '22

PostdocPrinceton UniversityPI: Ken Norman

Remington Mallett, Ph.D.  '21

PostdocNorthwestern UniversityPI: Ken Paller

Seth Koslov, Ph.D.  '20

PostdocUniversity of PennsylvaniaPI: Brett Foster

Hyojeong Kim, Ph.D.  '20

PostdocUniversity of Colorado, BoulderPI: Marie Banich

Ethan Oblak, Ph.D.  '19

PostdocRIKEN Brain Science Institute, JapanPI: Kazuhisa Shibata

🦚 Alumni: Masters Students

Allison Bruning, M.A.  '21

LecturerTexas State University

Allison Berman, M.S. '18

Scientific Software EngineerGoogle

Mark Hollenbeck, M.S.  '16

Director of Data ScienceBlackfynn

🦚 Selected Alumni: Research Assistants

Zoe Duan

Ph.D. StudentNew York UniveristyPI: Clay Curtis

Brandon Torio

M.S. StudentJohns Hopkins University

Anu Mummaneni

UndergraduateUniversity of Chicago

Katlyn Hedgpeth  '17

Technical AnalystIndeed

Rochelle Stewart  '15

Ph.D. StudentFlorida State UniversityPI: Jesse Cougle

Song Liu

Ph.D. StudentUniversity of Texas at DallasPI: Mick Rugg

Arjun Mukerji

Ph.D. StudentUniversity of California, BerkeleyPI: Michael Silver

🦚 Selected Alumni: Undergraduate Students

Sabrina Zheng  '23

Medical AssistantAustin Neurological Clinic

Paige Stetson  '23

Imaging Support ScientistBrain Imaging Center at UT Austin

Amaris Mendoza  '23

Study CoordinatorUT Austin

Ashley Humphries  '23

Lab ManagerUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln

Brandon Bruce  '23

M.D. StudentUT Southwestern

Reece Walter  '22

Law StudentColumbia University

Meghan Mallya  '21

M.D. StudentUniversity of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

Landry Bulls  '20

Ph.D. StudentDartmouth CollegePI: Mark Thornton

Robaa Al-Najar  '19

M.D. StudentLong School of Medicine, UT Health San Antonio

Stephanie Jeanneret  '19

M.S. StudentUniversity of GenevaPI: Evie Vergauwe

Bettina Bustos  '18

Ph.D. StudentUniversity of IowaPI: Jiefeng Jiang

Ellen Crowe  '17

M.D. StudentMcGovern Medical School