Mónica Rosselli heads the Neuropsychology laboratory at FAU. The topics under investigation at her neuropsychology laboratory are: (1) the neuropsychology of normal and abnormal aging; (2) the influence of cultural factors and bilingualism in neuropsychological assessment; (3) Event Related Potentials (ERPs), bilingualism and emotions; (4) the neuropsychology of cognitive development, and (5) Eye tracking in reading different phonological systems.
Merike Lang is a PhD candidate at Florida Atlantic University working in the Neuropsychology Lab of Dr. Mónica Rosselli. Her research interests include cultural differences within the influence of depression and brain biomarkers on cognitive function during normal and abnormal aging and the effects of musical training and bilingualism on executive function using electrophysiological (EEG) measures. Her dissertation project aims to analyze electrophysiological differences due to musical training and bilingualism during tasks of executive function. She is also an evaluator for a 5-year longitudinal study at Mount Sinai collecting neuropsychological data for patients suspected to be diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's Disease and administers neuropsychological testing to individuals in English and Spanish to aid in diagnosing these memory disorders at Mt. Sinai Medical center in Miami Beach. She has recently published research about the impact of neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression on cognitive decline for a cross-cultural sample, as well as a chapter relating to executive dysfunction in depressive disorders. She has worked in two labs and at several hospitals such as University of Miami Hospital, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Jackson Memorial Hospital, and Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. In addition to neuropsychology, she is a bilingual researcher and she is also a musician, who has been playing piano and singing for over 20 years.
Joshua Conniff is a Ph.D. student at Florida Atlantic University working in the Neuropsychology Lab of Dr. Rosselli and in the Visual Perception and Memory Lab of Dr. Sheremata. He is currently working on his master’s thesis project examining distractor strength on attentional processing. His thesis aims to determine how two aspects of distractors stimuli influence behavior: distractor strength and attentional state. He is also working on two other projects: Fit2Drive and the Keryx study. Fit2Drive is looking to develop and test a driver risk predictor for individuals with AD, and the Keryx study aims to look at cognitive support strategies to improve medication in older adults undergoing hemodialysis.
Emily Ahne is a Ph.D. student currently working on her master’s thesis project examining the effects of mindfulness meditation through focused-breathing inductions on executive function and emotion regulation. Emily uses electroencephalographic (EEG) techniques to examine the underlying brain mechanisms that indicate enhancements in response inhibition and emotion regulation as a result of a brief mindfulness induction.
Layaly Shihadeh is a first year PhD student in Dr. Rosselli’s lab. She graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She began volunteering at Dr. Rosselli’s Neuropsychology lab which in turn inspired her to further her career in neuropsychology by applying to and joining the PhD program in Experimental Psychology at FAU. Her interests include cognitive impairment and Dementia.
Valeria Torres graduated from FAU with a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology in May 2020. Her dissertation focused on the impact of bilingualism on cognitive functioning and gray matter volume in older adults. Currently, Valeria is working with researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital examining the impact of Coronavirus on cognition, behavior, and well-being.
Fernanda is a Ph.D. candidate at FAU, with expected graduation in the Summer of 2021. She has clinical experience in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Neuropsychology and 7 years of experience working with Neurorehabilitation in the Sarah Network of Rehabilitation Hospitals in Brazil, where she worked with children and adults with acquired brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases. Since 2016 Fernanda has been involved in an NIH funded longitudinal study related to early detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD), at the Mount Sinai Medical Center (MSMC) in Miami Beach, in collaboration with the University of Miami and the University of Florida. In this project, she has worked as a psychometrician, managing datasets, and has worked on several publications. Her master's thesis topic regarded functional assessment of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and AD examining differences between European Americans and Hispanic Americans. For her dissertation, Fernanda is examining the Neuropsychological and biomarkers profile of Cognitively normal participants who progress to MCI and of MCI who progress to dementia within 3 years, investigating possible differences between ethnic groups. Fernanda is very passionate about Neuropsychology with a broad knowledge of cognitive development and its related disorders, having focused in the last years on aging and abnormal aging. One of her strongest assets is her combined clinical and research experience.
