Aziz-Zadeh, Lisa
Associate Professor of Occupational Science, Psychology and Neurology
The Center for the Neuroscience of Embodied CognitionWe explore how rudimentary sensory-motor areas may be intrinsically involved in processing aspects of higher cognition such as language, thought, emotions, empathy, and social communication. We study both typical populations and autism, using MRI and behavioral studies, also integrating microbiome research.
Baker, Laura A.
Gene-environment interplay in human behavior, including personality, cognitive and social development. Rich datasets from longitudinal twin study of risk factors for externalizing behavior problems available for analysis.
Goldsworthy, Ray
Clinical Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Biomedical Engineering
Ray's research combines psychoacoustics, signal processing, and auditory rehabilitation towards improving hearing for the hearing impaired with emphasis on cochlear implant technology. Ray's research examines relationships between fundamental limits of auditory resolution with speech recognition. This line of research provides a foundation for quantifying auditory capacity, and sets the stage for systematically exploring signal processing solutions to enhance hearing for the impaired. Ray's signal processing research focuses on strategies that are inspired by the dynamic processes observed in healthy hearing. These strategies range from spatial beamformers modeled after binaural hearing to cochlear implant stimulation strategies inspired by auditory nerve physiology. Combining psychoacoustics and signal processing ultimately requires careful attention to auditory rehabilitation since cochlear implant and hearing aid users generally require dedicated time and training to learn how to use new information provided by enhanced signal processing solutions.
Immordino-Yang, Mary Helen
Professor of Education, Psychology & Neuroscience
Professor Mary Helen Immordino-Yang is the Director of USC CANDLE (Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education). CANDLE’s mission is to bring developmental affective neuroscience into partnership with educational innovation, and to use what is learned to guide the transformation of schools, policy, and the student and teacher experience for a healthier and more equitable society. Our research involves analyzing multi-modal data, including functional and structural neuroimaging (MRI, EEG), and psychophysiological data, from mixed-method studies of adolescent development and effective teaching. During the 2025-2026 academic year, CANDLE will be designing, developing stimuli and collecting data for an upcoming longitudinal study of adolescents’ brain and psychosocial development.
Kanoski, Scott
Professor of Biological Sciences
The prevalence of obesity has exploded over the past 40 years. The biological systems that underlie the excessive eating behavior contributing to obesity onset remain poorly understood. Our research goal is to discover the neural systems and psychological processes that control energy balance, with a particular focus on understanding the neurobiological substrates that regulate obesity-promoting behaviors such as food impulsivity and environmental cue-induced feeding. Another primary focus of our lab is to study how the brain is negatively impacted by dietary and metabolic factors. Consumption of Western diets (high in saturated fatty acids and sugars) not only contributes to obesity development, but also produces deficits in learning and memory capabilities and can even increase the risk for developing dementia. We are currently examining the specific causal dietary factors, critical developmental periods, and neurobiological mechanisms underlying diet-induced cognitive decline. Ongoing research identifies the gut microbiome as a critical link between unhealthy junk food diets and neurocognition.
