Current Members

I am a professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park. My research focuses on understanding how emotion and cognition interact with each other both in terms of the brain and behavior.

pessoa@umd.edu

Hello, I am interested in understanding spatiotemporal dynamics of the brain, how it changes with stimulus, etc. Being a graduate student in the ECE department, I use techniques from machine learning and network science to build models that explain the dynamics. Outside the lab, I practice yoga daily, read books and play badminton.

I do most of the administrative task for the lab as well as scanning participants. I graduated from UMBC with a Bachelors in Science in Biological Sciences. I’m interested in learning more about how emotions are intertwined with cognition and how that would affect artificial intelligence and unconscious bias. I have two cats, love drawing, reading comics, and horror movies.

My major is to apply Bayesian multilevel modeling, diagnosis, visualization and analysis on FMRI data; investigating brain-behavior relationship with statistical thinking; writing scentific manuscripts; and trying my efforts to manage machine learning and neural network. Love video games and delicious food 🙂

My role is assisting with all aspects of behavioral and fMRI studies including: recruitment, data collection, analysis and coordination of other regular lab activities. My general research interest is in Developmental and Behavioral Psychology. I would love to see how different brain functions throughout the course of development. I like to read novels in my free time!