Lab Director
Jonas Vibell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, an Affiliate Professor in the John A. Burns School of Medicine, and the director of the Brain & Behavior (B&B) Laboratory. His research interests involve brain imaging, perception, attention, multisensory integration, and altered states of mind in normal and clinical populations. Beyond brain exploration Dr. Vibell has also explored the North and the South Poles.
Jonas Vibell, Ph.D., M.Sc., FRSA
Lab Members
Sydney Brannick
Sydney received her Bachelor of Arts in Scientific and Philosophical Studies of Mind with a concentration in cognitive science from Franklin and Marshall College (2017) and her Master of Arts in Psychology with a specialization in cognition and perception from New York University (2019). She conducted her master’s thesis under the mentorship of Prof. Michael Landy and Dr. Stephanie Badde, where she studied multisensory integration, in particular, the combination of visual and tactile spatial cues. Her research interests include multisensory perception and perceptual illusions. More specifically, she is interested in how our senses interact to help us process information, how the brain handles ambiguous sensory signals, and how different circumstances may modulate the underlying neuronal mechanisms at play.
Kyra GauthierDickey
Kyra is a PhD student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa studying under Professor Vibell. She received her B.A. in Psychology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo (2019). After graduating, she worked in research and development as a software developer for various projects in the area of decentralization (e.g. Seed, Webrecorder). Currently, she is working on creating a virtual reality testing space for EEG studies and manages the Neurorehabilitation Unit. She has additional interest in machine learning applications for EEG data, neuroplasticity, and functional neurological changes after usage of brain-computer interfaces.
_edited.jpg)
Ian Strieter
Ian is a new PhD student in the Psychology program at UH Manoa. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Davis, and an associate's in Mathematics from Berkeley City College. He has worked as a research assistant in several university labs, and interned at NASA's Ames Research Center, working on projects in space biology and doing UX and service design work for NASA's SBIR/STTR program. Some of his research interests include perceptual learning, multisensory integration, biofeedback, physiological signal processing, and individual differences in learning and sensory processing, as well as how an understanding of such differences might be used to improve outcomes in health or education.
Gabriel Custodio
Gabriel has an Associate Degree from Windward Community College, and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at UH Mānoa. He also currently works part-time at Hawaii State Hospital, and has interests in both Clinical and Cognitive Psychology. After graduation, he intends to attend Grad School and pursue a Ph. D. in clinical or cognitive psychology.
Lab Manager: Malika Iagafarova
Malika is an international undergraduate student at UH Manoa. While originally coming from Russia, Malika attended schools in Hong Kong and Egypt, eventually settling on pursuing a degree in B.S. Psychology in Hawaii. After graduation, she is hoping to go to graduate school with a focus on neuroscience and psychopathology.
Michael Lima
Michael is a post-baccalaureate Research Assistant who graduated with his BA in Psychology at UH Mānoa. He hopes to earn his MA in the socio-cognitive field and further that breadth of knowledge through research. He also likes cats.
_edited.jpg)
Juyeon Julia Suh
Juyeon Julia Suh is a post-baccalaureate Research Assistant who graduated from UH Manoa in Fall 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy. Julia is curious about the mind-body connection, consciousness, cognition and the phenomenology of human lived experiences. She will continue her education in Hawaii by obtaining a graduate degree and exploring different areas of possible research. She is currently interested in exploring the effects of serotonergic psychedelics like psilocybin on perception and embodied cognition in those with clinical depression.
Kaitlynn Weiss
Kaitlynn is an undergraduate student at UH Manoa pursing a BS in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy. She intends to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology following graduation. She is passionate about imaging techniques and mindfulness as they relate to both perception and clinical psychology. She is currently piloting an independent study on how mindfulness meditation influences the effects of perceptual load on visual attention.
Nhat Dainelle Vallo
Nhat is an undergraduate student at UH Manoa pursuing her B.S. degree in Psychology. She is interested in furthering her education and hopes to attend medical school after graduation. Her field of interests include neuroscience, clinical psychology, and cognitive psychology. Currently, she is running an independent study on REM sleep and the Defensive Activation Theory.
.jpeg)
Krystalyn Edwards-Calma
Krystalyn has two Associate degrees from WCC and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at UH Mānoa. Upon graduation, she hopes to continue her education in either medical school or graduate school. Her fields of interest include neuroscience and clinical psychology.
Lab Alumni
.jpg)
Alex da Costa Ferro
Alex da Costa Ferro, received her Masters of Arts in Experimental Psychology from University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. She first began exploring research in cognitive psychology and neuroimaging, and continues her work with Dr. Vibell.
David Thinnes
David Thinnes is a biomedical engineer and a trained Radiology Medical Assistant at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. He has studied science biomedical engineering with a specialization in neural engineering, and his research interests include signal processing and analysis of biological signals such as such as multi-channel EEG and psychophysiological data.
Emily Alden Black
Emily is an undergraduate student at Hampshire College majoring in cognitive psychology and media studies and is visiting the Brain and Behavior Laboratory in the summers of 2019 and 2020.
Mary Miller
Mary is a senior in the psychology BA program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She intends on continuing her education to eventually attain a doctorate in psychology.
Shannon Sanchez
Shannon Sanchez is a psychology major and pre-med student at The University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is interested in integrative medicine and neuroplasticity. Her long-term goal is to become a psychiatrist.
Desmond DeSilva
Desmond DeSilva is an undergraduate psychology major at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is currently exploring different research and study abroad opportunities. So far, he is interested in cognitive and industrial psychology.
Su Gyeong
Su Gyeong is an undergraduate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is currently pursuing a BS in psychology. After her psychology degree, she wishes to continue her education in the medical field by applying to either PA or medical school. Her current field of interest is the neuroimaging of behavior and emotion.
Joanne Yeung
Joanne is a junior undergraduate student, working towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology with a minor in Public Health. She is a pre-med student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is interested in neonatal/pediatric medicine. She is currently looking for interesting research opportunities. Currently, she is interested in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Joanne hopes to find more information between pediatric patients and the evolution of neurodegenerative diseases. Her long-term goal is to become a general pediatrician in Hawaii.
Arisa Blanco
Arisa is an undergraduate student at the University of Hawai’i, majoring in Psychology. She is interested in Neuropsychology and intends to go to graduate school.
Faris Hasan
Faris is a senior undergraduate student earning a B.S. degree in psychology while minoring in sociology. He is also a certified Emergency Medical Technician. Faris has a deep interest in bringing advanced neurological treatments to underserved communities as a future physician. He is a recipient of the UROP award at UH Manoa, which has enabled him to pursue an independent research project investigating the relationship between multilingualism and spatial attention.
YooJin Oh
YooJin is an undergraduate at UH Manoa, and is currently pursuing a B.S. degree in psychology and a B.A. in Korean. Her Honors project aims to investigate how multilingualism and second language fluency modulates cognitive flexibility. Upon graduation, she is looking to attend graduate school to continue studying psychology. She is currently interested in studying developmental psychology, or abnormal child psychology, and wishes to become a professor later in the future.
Samantha Boring
Samantha graduated from UH Manoa earning her B.S. degree in Psychology in Spring 2023. She is interested in abnormal and cognitive psychology. Her long term goal is to work Behavioral Health with the FBI.
Derek Armstrong
Derek graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa pursuing his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology in Spring 2023. He seeks to continue his education by pursuing a Master of Arts in Psychology from a graduate school. His interests are cognitive psychology and neuroscience and his ultimate goal is to go into research in the field of neuroscience.
.jpg)
Ashley Rosenfeld
Ashley is a post-baccalaureate Research Assistant that received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the University of Hawaii Manoa (2021). She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and neuroscience in order to further explore the bidirectional interactions and outcomes between physiological and cognitive mechanisms utilizing neuroimaging and neuromodulation techniques. She is currently conducting EEG research on the information processing of unattended visual stimuli in the lab, while working part-time at an rTMS therapy clinic in Kahala.