Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Department of Psychology University of Pennsylvania Mailing address: 3720 Walnut Street, Solomon Lab Room B51 Philadelphia, PA 19104-6241 Office address: 3810 Walnut St., Room 307 Philadelphia, PA 19104 215.573.6726 (phone) 215.898.1982 (fax) E-mail: evangelg@psych.upenn.edu
Evangelia G. Chrysikou, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow Sharon Thompson-Schill Lab Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology University of Pennsylvaniahttp://www.psych.upenn.edu/stslab/http://ccn.upenn.edu/http://www.psych.upenn.edu/http://www.upenn.edu/shapeimage_4_link_0shapeimage_4_link_1shapeimage_4_link_2shapeimage_4_link_3
How do people use objects to achieve goals and solve problems? My research focuses on the cognitive processes that allow us to move beyond what we know about or how we usually interact with an object to come up with a novel or unusual use for it, when the situation imposes such demands (e.g., use a knife to cut food or as a screwdriver). To address these questions, I am collecting a combination of behavioral, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) data from healthy adults or neuropsychological populations. The aim of these studies is to identify the factors implicated in our unique ability to re-conceptualize a tool and extend its use or to create a new artifact with which to achieve a goal or solve a problem.