People with higher trait anxiety tend to have a harder time creating detailed mental simulations, according to new research published in the journal Cognition and Emotion.

“My research has convinced me that our capacity to imagine possible personal events critically depends on our capacity to remember our personal past,” said study author Felipe De Brigard, an associate professor at Duke University and principal investigator at the Imagination and Modal Cognition Lab.

The study, “Phenomenology of counterfactual thinking is dampened in anxious individuals“, was authored by Natasha Parikh, Kevin S. LaBar, and Felipe De Brigard.

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Innovators in Cognitive Neuroscience welcomes leading scientists exploring the neural mechanisms that give rise to thought, knowledge, and complex behavior. Even as novel technologies, methods, and analytical tools proliferate, we believe the diverse and creative individuals within the neuroscience community are most critical for moving our understanding of the brain forward. We are dedicated to curating and disseminating innovative theories and providing a forum for cultivating new ideas.

At the same time, we recognize that long-standing injustice and inequality pervade our society, and academia is no exception. Academics must take a preeminent role in the movement towards social justice and work actively towards building a more just and equitable society. Our academic endeavors should reflect this aim.

Innovators in Cognitive Neuroscience bridges these scientific and social justice aspirations.

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Collaborations spanned the University, from the Divinity School to the Program in General Education—just as they do in person. In a virtual visit for PSY 1013 The Mind’s Eye: Psychology of Imagination, taught by Natasha Parikh, students joined a team of curators and curatorial fellows to discuss artists’ endeavors to depict people and places they never saw; the ways in which our imagination alters what we remember; and the relationship between creativity and imagination. .....

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WHILE HER UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR (mathematical and computational biology) steered her toward doctoral studies and a career as a neuroscientist and a professor, Natasha Parikh’s research has been directly influenced by her work as an HMC proctor and mentor.

​“As a proctor, I saw people get stressed out in day-to-day life,” says Parikh ’14. “I became more and more interested in human behavior and how that influences what the brain is doing. I wanted to know how some people do a good job handling the incredible stressors of college life, while others need more support and resources.” .....

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Excerpts from Parikh's Nomination
“From the moment she started working with  us  I have  been  utterly  impressed  by  her  discipline, her  technical  and mathematical  skills,  her  capacity  to  learn  and  find  innovative  solutions  to  difficult problems, her  natural  inclination  toward leadership,  and her  unquestionable promise  to become a leading researcher and instructor in psychology and neuroscience.” .....

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