Headshot of Matthew Shinkle

Matthew Shinkle

Ph.D. in Cognitive and Brain Sciences He/him/his

Summary

Research interests

I've always been interested in high-level descriptions of the human mind, whether they be largely computational (information processing, optimization) or more abstract (moral responsibility, consciousness). This interest drove me to study psychology and philosophy as an undergraduate. However, during this time I realized that the questions I was interested in could be most directly addressed through neuroscience research, particularly using computational approaches. This led me to my current position as a 3rd-year Ph.D. student in Mark Lescroart's neuroscience lab at UNR.

My current research focuses on two areas: higher-order visual processing in the ventral visual stream, and the relationship between information processing in neural networks and in the brain. My hope is that--by expanding our understanding of these areas--we will simultaneously improve our understanding of the brain and support the creation of more understandable neural network models.

Education

  • B.A. in Psychology with an emphasis in research and cognitive neuroscience, 2019, Cedarville University