electrophysiology, decision-making, prefrontal cortex, systems neuroscience
My name is Lindsay Shaffer and I'm a PhD candidate in the CBN program. My advisor is Dr. Jim Thompson.
My research primarily focuses on investigating the neural contributions of the prefrontal cortex toward decision-making within humans. I investigate how sensory and affective information converge in certain regions of the prefrontal cortex and how the convergence of this information gives rise to behavior guided by cognitive maps. I am also interested in how distributed and overlapping networks which convey sensory and affective information broadly suggest the prefrontal cortex is organized in a hierarchical fashion.
I'm also strongly interested in efforts improving patient outcomes and precision medicine initiatives. As a part of my NSF NRT Fellowship, I'm currently collaborating with members of the S.T.A.R. Lab, the Biomedical Imaging Lab, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and the INOVA Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Clinic to develop a novel application that can remotely measure symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease (PwPs) and easily disseminated to the PwP's care team.
Shaffer LS, Crowder HM, Duong LT, McDonald CA, Thompson JC. The reward positivity does not encode current reward value. [in preparation]
Thompson JC, Indelele E, Shaffer LS. Identity-specific devaluation of social outcomes. [under review]
CASBBI National Science Foundation (NSF) NRT Fellowship (2020-2022; Sponsor: NSF)
PSYC 372 - Biopsychology
PSYC 373 - Biopsychology Lab
B.A., Psychology - University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)