Asa Young & Tara Pugliese

Asa Young is a PhD student with Dr. Jonathan Schooler in the University of California, Santa Barbara's Memory Emotion Thought Awareness (META) Lab and a former research associate with Neurofield Inc. His research interests are in the neural basis of consciousness --the what, where, and how questions into our nervous system's ability to have a phenomenal experience. Specifically, Asa investigates how the body interacts with and influences cognition by employing a wide range of electrophysiology tools. On his free time, he enjoys a good BBQ and singing karaoke. 

Tara Pugliese currently serves as a neurotherapy technician and research aid at NeuroField's Santa Barbara clinic, where she works hands-on with patients every day, gathering data from EEG brain maps and administering neurotherapy treatment under the direction of industry leaders Drs. Tiff Thompson and Nicholas Dogris. She also serves as a research affiliate at the University of California, Santa Barbara, working in the META Lab—a cognitive psychology laboratory led by Dr. Jonathan Schooler. She plans to pursue a doctorate in Clinical Psychology or Neuroscience, specializing in applied neurophysiology.

Presenting: The Arousal Lever: Findings on the Modulators of Brain-Body Synchrony    

Our cognition is firmly and irreducibly intertwined with our bodies. Our heart, breath, and stomach are in constant dialogue with our brain and this interaction enables us to perceive our internal state accurately and interlock both nervous system and physiology into a single, dynamic system. Our lab is interested in how this interaction can change within an individual given different states, such as varying levels of psychological stress or emotional valence. This presentation will review 1) the substrates of brain-body interaction, 2) the recent findings in how brain-body interaction is influenced by state-dependent factors -- conducted using NeuroField equipment, and 3) implications for clinical research and practice.