Neuroscience


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Neuroscience

Program Committee

Neuroscience faculty members are active researchers who are committed to excellence in teaching. Their research interests include: neurotransmitter oxidation; neuropeptides; tactile psychophysics; neurobiology; developmental regulation of neurotransmitter systems; neuropeptide structure and function; programming of motor movements; and neural mechanisms of attention.


Serena Butcher, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology

sbutcher@hamilton.edu
Butcher received her ScB in psychology at Brown University. She spent two years conducting research in visual attention at Brigham and Womens' Hospital, Boston, before pursuing her doctorate from Harvard University. Butcher recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests include visual perception and visual cognition.


David Gapp, Ph.D., The Silas D. Childs Professor of Biology

dgapp@hamilton.edu

Gapp concentrates on comparative endocrinology of reptiles, with a focus on the action and evolution of gastrointestinal and pancreatic hormones. He has written and reviewed manuscripts for notable journals including The Journal of Comparative Endocrinology and Physiological Zoology, and he has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. His research focuses primarily on turtles and alligators, examining factors controlling insulin and gastrin release and looking particularly at seasonal aspects of pancreatic hormone release in turtles. His recent identification of "diabetes" in a local population of snapping turtles may provide an interesting model to pursue the study of this serious metabolic disease that affects a significant portion of the American population.


George Gescheider, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Emeritus

ggeschei@hamilton.edu

A member of the Hamilton faculty since 1964, Gescheider specializes in brain and behavioral patterns, psychophysics, and sensory physiology. His most recent research has contributed to the identification of specific receptor systems responsible for the perception of mechanical stimuli. Gescheider is a member of nine professional societies and has received the Pentagon Society Award for Excellence in Teaching, the National Service Award, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professorship, and is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America.


Herm Lehman, Ph.D., Professor of Biology

hlehman@hamilton.edu
Lehman's research is focused on the development and function of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are molecules released by neurons and mediate communication throughout the nervous system. Thus, the proper expression and maintenance of neurotransmitter levels is a critical, yet largely unknown, aspect of the metabolism of the neuron. More about Herman Lehman ...


Jeremy Skipper, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology

jskipper@hamilton.edu
Jeremy Skipper was trained in the Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience Program at The University of Chicago and was a post doctoral fellow at Cornell Medical. At Hamilton, he will be doing social cognitive neuroscience research pertaining to how our brains support communication in the natural settings in which language evolved, develops and normally functions. This research is supported by an NIH grant titled “The Neurobiology of Speech Perception in Real-World Contexts.” Skipper's goal is to apply discoveries from this work to help those with communicative deficits (i.e. due to stroke) recover function. More about Jeremy I. Skipper...


Jonathan Vaughan, Ph.D., The James L. Ferguson Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience

jvaughan@hamilton.edu

An experimental psychologist, Vaughan's research interests focus on the selection of motor movements; eye movements and attentional processes; learning and cognitive neuropsychology. His current work, funded by an AREA grant from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Strokes, (with colleagues David Rosenbaum of Pennsylvania State University and Ruud Meulenbroek of the Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information) has resulted in computational models that describe performance in tasks such as reaching, grasping, and tapping. Vaughan has collaborated with Hamilton colleague Penny L. Yee in facilitating the use of computer applications in psychological research, their most recent efforts being tutorial materials for using the PsyScope program for teaching and research in Cognitive Psychology. Vaughan is also editor of the international quarterly, Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, published by the Psychonomic Society.

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Douglas Weldon, Ph.D., The Stone Professor of Psychology

dweldon@hamilton.edu

Weldon received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His interests encompass the study of neuroscience, specifically the basis for attention in the brain, looking at head and body movements toward stimuli. Weldon is a recipient of the National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health. He has reviewed material for the National Science Foundation and Science magazine. His areas of research include the developmental psychobiology of memory; the behavioral correlates of midbrain neuronal activity; and the cognitive neuroscience of visual spatial memory in humans.

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