Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, UCSB

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Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, UCSB

The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at UCSB is dedicated to excellence in research, tea students, and 2500 undergraduate majors.

The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences is home to world-renowned faculty, 70 Ph.D. Together we are pursuing cutting-edge science that expands our understanding of the mind, brain, and behavior. We are committed to ensuring that the pursuit of higher education is available to all of the best and brightest students in California and beyond.

05/23/2022

Asst. Professor Ikuko Smith Awarded Prestigious NIH Grant To Elucidate Mechanisms Of Dendritic Integration

Psychological & Brain Sciences Asst. Prof. Ikuko Smith has just been awarded a prestigious $1.825 M grant from the National Institute of Health to understand precisely how dendrites integrate information. Her highly innovative project will examine how neuronal dendrites process information (including their role in filtering, amplifying, and integrating electrical signals) using in vivo cortical circuit activity in mice. Dendrites can fire electrical spikes much like axons, a mechanism which potentially underlies information processing at the subcellular level. With the support of this award, her team will measure and compare the level of membrane depolarizations and calcium activity within different neuronal compartments–from spines, dendrites, to soma–to quantify their amplification and strength of influence on neuronal output. To accomplish this methodological feat, Dr. Smith will use a custom two-photon microscope that was specifically designed for this research. Findings from the study will not only contribute to our basic understanding of the computational capacity of a single neuron, but will also aid in our understanding of subcellular dysfunctions in a range of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkingson's disease, which are known to exhibit dendritic pathology. Congratulations Dr. Ikuko Smith!

05/18/2022

Hi - Reminder - for PBS newsletter, please send Class Note - brief update on what you are up to now - to [email protected]. Thanks to all who have submitted!

05/13/2022

PBS Faculty Richard Mayer Ranks Highly On Top-Cited Academic Platform

Distinguished UCSB Professor Richard Mayer ranked #52 in United States and #83 in the world ranking of Top 1000 Scientists in the area of Psychology, according to the 2022 Edition of Research.com, an academic platform for scientists. Prof. Mayer directs the Laboratory for Research on Learning and Instruction, which investigates the science of learning and instruction—i.e., how people learn and how we can help them learn—focusing on learning with multimedia, online pedagogical agents, virtual reality, and computer games. The Top Scientists ranking is based on H-index data; as of this writing, Prof. Mayer’s research has been cited upwards of 91,954 times, yielding a highly impressive h-index of 129. Congratulations, Prof. Mayer!

For the full list of rankings, see here: https://research.com/scientists-rankings/psychology
For the US list, see here: https://research.com/scientists-rankings/psychology/us

05/11/2022

Dear UCSB Psychology / Psychological & Brain Sciences Alums,

SEND YOUR CLASS NOTE to [email protected]

We are preparing our Inside Psychology 2022 departmental newsletter, and would love to include an update from you in our Class Notes section.

If you would like to check out the 2020/2021 Inside Psychology, here it is: https://psych.ucsb.edu/alumni/inside-psychology-newsletter

We will accept class notes submissions until May 15th, 2022. So, please share what is new in your world. Here are the instructions.

PLEASE SUBMIT A BRIEF (i.e., no-more-than 100 word UPDATE) for the 2022 volume. If you can submit one now, that would be great! We will accept them until May 15th, 2022. Graduate students, undergraduate students, PBS, Biopsychology, & Psychology – all welcome!

This is one of the most popular and important parts of the newsletter, and we need your help.

Here's the format illustrated with a (fictitious) example.

Judy Gaucho, 2017, BA, Psychological & Brain Sciences. I have had a number of positions in industry, most recently at GaucholandIV Entertainment, a start-up that incorporates psychological principles into multimedia experiences. I’m involved in a number of charitable endeavors and my hobbies include running, reading, and writing short stories.

These may be edited for formatting consistency and space constraints, particularly if they are over 120 words. But we (and everyone who might remember you) would love to see your update. Please note that we won't post web pages or links, so please do not include them and that we may include these online on our departmental web page, class notes section.

SEND YOUR CLASS NOTE to

[email protected]

05/05/2022

Three PBS Students Win Graduate Fellowships

Three Psychological & Brain Sciences graduate students were awarded highly competitive fellowships that will support their PhD studies.

Jordan Garrett, a Ph.D. student in Barry Giesbrecht’s Attention lab researching how changes in physiological state modulate neural mechanisms underlying working memory, was awarded a Graduate Division Research Mentorship Award. Delancey Wu, a Ph.D. student in Nancy Collins’s Close Relationships lab investigating how cultural values predict perceived responsiveness and social support, won a President's Dissertation Year Fellowship. Finally, Melissa Hingorani, a Ph.D. student in the Janusonis lab, who is currently developing a platform to study the spatiotemporal dynamics of serotonergic axons in various cell culture geometries, won a Graduate Division Dissertation Fellowship. Big congratulations to all!

https://psych.ucsb.edu/news-events/news/2022/three-pbs-students-win-graduate-fellowships

05/04/2022

PBS Graduate Student Wins Excellence In Teaching Award

Elizabeth Quinn-Jensen, a second year Ph.D. student in Social Psychology in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, won a highly competitive Excellence in Teaching award granted by the Graduate Student Association.

The UCSB Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes graduate students who have shown excellence in teaching and gone above and beyond in their teaching duties at UCSB. Elizabeth, who is co-advised by Drs. Zoe Liberman and Brenda Major, is currently studying precisely how children and adults come to understand and respond to the social identities of those around them, with a focus on how one perceives individuals with blended or ‘intermediate’ identities (e.g., biracial and bisexual individuals). Big congratulations, Elizabeth!

04/25/2022

The Psychological and Brain Sciences department received national recognition last week when the 2023 US News and World Report list of “Best Graduate Schools” ranked the Social Psychology program #9 in the nation. In response to the ranking, PBS Department Chair Shelly Gable said “It is a great honor that our graduate program in Social Psychology has been named as a top ten program. Training graduate students in cutting-edge theory and research in social psychology is our top priority and we are excited to be recognized in this way.” To read about other UCSB programs honored in this list, see the article in the UCSB Current.

04/22/2022

Prof. Vanessa Woods honored with UCSB Distinguished Teaching Award

Prof. Vanessa Woods was recently named a 2022 recipient of the UCSB Distinguished Teaching Award. This award is in recognition of Prof Woods’ extensive accomplishments in undergraduate and graduate training, along with her proven track record in integrating her research and teaching. Prof. Woods teaches important courses for the PBS and Biopsychology undergraduate majors, including Research Methods (PSY 10A), Advanced Research Methods Laboratory (PSY 120L), Biopsychology (PSY 111), and College Student Development (PSY 109).

Congratulations, Prof. Woods!

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Santa Barbara, CA
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http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/

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