Awarded in 2005
Home Department: Neurosciences
Faculty Advisors: Krishna Shenoy (Electrical Engineering) and William Newsome (Neurobiology)

Research Title: Moving Through the Brain: A Study of Movement Preparation in the Oculomotor and Reach Systems

Research Description: Rachel was interested in understanding how ensembles of neurons collectively encode and transmit information and how this neural activity underlies complex behavior and cognition. Using a combination of behavioral, physiological and computational approaches, she explored how the brain computes values, how this computation drives decision making, and the applications of this value assessment in the context of neural prosthetic development.

WHERE IS SHE NOW?

Rachel is the Head of Data Products and Services at Biogen.