Area of Research
Human Navigation, Brain-Inspired Computing, Computational Neuroscience, Neuroimaging
My current research revolves around two questions: How does the brain work during navigation? And, how does the environment influence people’s cognition?
In answering the first question, I research individual differences in the perception of distance, direction, and decision-making during wayfinding. Particularly, I look at neural mechanisms of the travel direction system in the human brain by using psychophysics, fMRI, and computational modeling.
Addressing the second question, I am curious about how biased world knowledge influences people’s cognition. As 90% of human beings are right-handed, most man-made tools are designed for right-handed use. In other words, we live in a right-handed world. To look at how biased world knowledge influences cognition at different spatial scales, I test left-handed and right-handed human and virtual robots in spatial tasks.
My research agenda expands to scientific questions that range across spatial and temporal scales. For example, I ask how neuroinflammation in the medial temporal lobe contributes to spatial disorientation. Additionally, I am interested in the sex differences in spatial abilities across different countries and continents, and how we understand different navigation strategies from an evolutionary perspective (e.g., hunter-gatherer theory). I would like to pursue a career that leverages brain science towards the advancement of artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence towards a greater understanding of the human brain.
Current:
- Travel direction as a fundamental component of human navigation
- A biologically plausible neural network for motion adaptation of travel direction
- Neural representation of direction in exploring a complex environment
- Separate neural mechanisms for head direction and travel direction
- How handedness is influenced by world knowledge using neurorobots
- The relationship between spatial abilities and bandit task risk-taking behaviors
- Global sex differences in travel trajectory using a dataset from a mobile game
Completed:
- The influence of handedness in the mental rotation of hands
- Temporal and spatial distance perception towards famous people
- Geovisualization of global sex differences in mental rotation
- Network analyses of the collaboration among research sites over the past four decades