People

Akram founded the Bakkour Memory and Decision lab in 2020. He received a BS in Neuroscience from Brown University and a PhD in Neuroscience from The University of Texas at Austin. Akram then completed his postdoctoral training at Columbia University before moving to Chicago. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Chicago.

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Abby graduated from the University of Chicago in 2023 with a double-major in Neuroscience and Psychology with Honors. She is broadly interested in how various facets of our internal and external environment can alter how we remember and make decisions about the world around us. For example, how do internal environmental factors like neurotransmitter and hormone levels or external environmental factors like stressors or financial risks alter how we remember and make decisions about our world? She is growingly interested in how this knowledge could be implemented in many areas of society, such as clinical work and consumer psychology. In her free time, she enjoys baking, walking/biking along the lakefront path, traveling, and trying new coffee places!

Euan is a doctoral student in the Cognitive Psychology Program. He received his B.A. in Psychology from New York University, before working as a Research Specialist at the University of Pennsylvania for two years. He is broadly interested in how structured information about the world is encoded in memory, and how this knowledge is used to facilitate flexible decision-making. Outside the lab, Euan spends his time playing the guitar, watching live music, and exploring Chicago with his camera.

Xinyue is a doctoral student in the Cognitive Psychology Program. She previously completed the MA Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS) at the University of Chicago and conducted her thesis research in the lab. As an undergraduate student at the University of California, San Diego, she double majored in Psychology and Communication. She is broadly interested in the cognitive mechanisms of episodic memory and decision-making, and the interactions between them. During her free time, Xinyue enjoys anime, video games, films and traveling.

Seoyoung is a doctoral student in the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience program. She received her B.A. in Psychology from New York University Abu Dhabi and her M.Sc. in Cognitive Science from the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences at the University of Trento, Italy. Seoyoung is broadly interested in understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the interaction between memory and decision-making. In her spare time, she likes to play the violin, piano, bake, and watch random videos that are recommended by the algorithm.

Adeline is a master’s student in the MAPSS program. She received her B.S. in Cognitive Science from the University of California, Irvine. She is broadly interested in the interplay between curiosity, emotions, and interfering information, and how they can compete with/enhance reward-based evaluation and learning processes. In her free time, Adeline enjoys playing archery, painting, and watching films.

Rain is a third year in the College double majoring in Cognitive Science and Computer Science. She is interested in exploring memory and decision-making as well as neurolinguistics through programming. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, painting, traveling and Chinese television.

Maya is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in Neuroscience at UChicago. She is particularly interested in the psychological and neural factors underlying decision making and behavior. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing, listening to jazz, and playing tennis.

Nicholas is a fourth-year in the College majoring in Neuroscience. He is interested in exploring the interplay between memory and decision-making and the various factors that can influence memory recall. In his spare time, he enjoys painting, crocheting, and playing badminton.