Curriculum Vitae in pdf form.

Research Positions

  • October 2009 – Present Research Scientist, Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego.
  • October 2007 – September 2009 RCUK Academic Fellow, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
  • May – December 2008 Visiting Scholar, Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego.
  • February 2006 – September 2007 Post-doctoral Researcher, LEAD-CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, France.
  • February – October 2002 Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK. Assistant to Dr K.C. Plaisted.

Education

  • 2002 – 2006 Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK. "Modelling the Effects of Damage to Perirhinal Cortex and Ventral Visual Stream on Visual Cognition". Primary Supervisor: Dr L.M. Saksida, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge.
  • 1998 – 2001 BA(Hons) Natural Sciences, Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, UK. Part II Experimental Psychology, Upper Second Class.
  • 1991 – 1998 Chelmsford County High School for Girls, Essex, UK. A-levels in Mathematics(A), Physics(A), Chemistry(A), English Literature (A), General Studies(A)

Awards & Scholarships

  • Winner of the 2009 Cognitive Science Society Prize ($1000) for Computational Modeling of Perception/Action. July 2009.
  • Travel award of £500 from Brain, A Journal of Neurology, Oxford, UK. July 2009.
  • Travel award of £200 from the British Academy, UK. July 2009.
  • Travel award of £3,010 from the Royal Society, UK, International Travel Grant Scheme. April 2009.
  • Grant of £4,100 from the BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, UK) under the International Scientific Interchange Scheme. April 2008.
  • Research Councils UK Academic Fellowship. October 2007 – September 2010.
  • Newton Abraham Studentship in Biomedical Sciences, Lincoln College, University of Oxford, UK. 2002 – 2005
  • Pembroke College Book Prize for a high 2.1 in final examinations. June 2001

Publications

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

  • Bartko, S.J., Cowell, R.A., Winters, B.D., Saksida, L.M. and Bussey, T.J. (in press). Increased susceptibility to interference in a rat model of object amnesia: impairment in both storage and retrieval. Neuropsychologia.
  • Huber, D.E. & Cowell, R.A. (in press). Theory–driven modeling or model–driven theorizing? A comment on McClelland et al./Griffiths et al. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
  • Cowell, R.A., Bussey, T.J. & Saksida, L.M. (in press). Components of recognition memory: dissociable cognitive processes or just differences in representational complexity? To appear in a forthcoming special issue of Hippocampus.
  • Cowell, R.A., Bussey, T.J. & Saksida, L.M. (in press). Functional dissociations within the ventral object processing pathway: cognitive modules or a hierarchical continuum?Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
  • Bartko, S.J., Winters, B.D., Cowell, R.A., Saksida, L.M. and Bussey, T.J.(2007). Perirhinal cortex resolves feature ambiguity in configural object recognition and perceptual oddity tasks. Learning & Memory, 14: 821-832.
  • Bartko, S.J., Winters, B.D., Cowell, R.A., Saksida, L.M. and Bussey, T.J.(2007). Perceptual functions of perirhinal cortex in rats: zero-delay object recognition and simultaneous oddity discriminations. Journal of Neuroscience, 27 (10): 2548-2559.
  • Cowell, R.A., Bussey, T.J. and Saksida, L.M. (2006). Why does brain damage impair memory? A connectionist model of object recognition memory in perirhinal cortex. Journal of Neuroscience, 26 (47): 12186-12197.
  • Abreu, A., French, R. M., Cowell, R. A. & de Schonen, S. (2007). Local-Global visual deficits in Williams Syndrome: Stimulus presence contributes to diminished performance on image-reproduction. Psychologica Belgica, 46(4), 269-281.
  • Winters, B.D., Forwood, S.E., Cowell, R.A., Saksida, L.M. & Bussey T.J. (2004). Double dissociation between the effects of peri-postrhinal and hippocampal lesions on tests of object recognition and spatial memory: heterogeneity of function within the temporal lobe. Journal of Neuroscience, 24: 5901-8.
  • Di Ciano, P., Cardinal, R.N., Cowell, R.A., Little, S.J. & Everitt, B.J. (2001). Differential involvement of NMDA, AMPA/kainate, and dopamine receptors in the nucleus accumbens core in the acquisition and performance of pavlovian approach behavior. Journal of Neuroscience, 21: 9471-7.

Peer-reviewed Conference Proceedings

  • Cowell, R.A., Huber, D.E., and Cottrell, G.W. (2009). Virtual Brain Reading: A connectionist approach to understanding fMRI. Proceedings of the 31st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2009. (32% Acceptance Rate). Winner of the 2009 Perception/Action Modeling Prize.
  • Cowell, R.A. & French, R. M. (2007). An unsupervised dual-network connectionist model of rule emergence in category learning.
    Proceedings of the Second European Cognitive Science Conference, 2007.

Book Chapters

  • Cowell, R.A., Bussey, T.J. & Saksida, L.M. (in press). Using Computational Modelling to Understand Cognition in the Ventral Visual-Perirhinal Pathway. In, Advancing Artificial Intelligence: Models, Methods and Applications. Alonso, E. & Mondragon, E. (Eds.), IGI Global Publishing.

To view abstracts or download pdf files of these papers, click here.

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Invited Talks

  • Cognitive Science Colloquium, University of Arizona. Fall 2010.
  • "Looking Back at Mount Ararat" Memory Workshop, Yerevan, Armenia. April 2010.
  • Department of Psychology, University of Kent, UK. June 2009.
  • Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego. April 2009.
  • Reinagel Lab, Department of Neurobiology, University of California, San Diego. November 2008
  • Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego. November 2008
  • Cognitive Science Seminar, School of Psychology, Birkbeck, UK. February 2008
  • LEAD-CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, France. November 2006
  • Behavioural Neuroscience Seminar, Departments of Experimental Psychology, Zoology and Anatomy, University of Cambridge. November 2005
  • MRC Cognition and Brain Unit, Chaucer Road, Cambridge. July 2004

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Conference Presentations

Talks

  • Cowell, R.A., Huber, D.E. & Cottrell, G.W. (2009). Virtual Brain Reading: A connectionist approach to understanding fMRI.
    31st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Amsterdam, Netherlands, July 2009.
  • Cowell, R.A., Huber, D.E. & Cottrell, G.W. (2009). Virtual Brain Reading: A connectionist approach to understanding fMRI.
    Eighth Annual Summer Interdisciplinary Conference (ASIC), Val d’Aoste, Italy, July 2009.
  • Cowell, R.A., Huber, D.E. & Cottrell, G.W. (2008). Predicting fMRI data from the Fusiform Face Area with a model of visual cognition.
    Meeting of the Perceptual Expertise Network, Chicago, October 2008.
  • Cowell, R.A., Bussey, T.J. & Saksida, L.M. (2008). The Effect of Brain Lesions in the Ventral Visual Object Processing Pathway.
    Seventh Annual Summer Interdisciplinary Conference, Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, July 2008.
  • Cowell, R.A., Bussey, T.J. & Saksida, L.M. (2008). Why does anterior temporal lobe damage make us forget objects?
    Meeting of the Perceptual Expertise Network, Banff, Alberta, May 2008.
  • Cowell, R.A. & French, R.M. (2007). An unsupervised connectionist model of rule emergence in category learning.
    European CogSci, Athens, Greece, May 2007. Published subsequently in the proceedings of the conference.
  • Cowell, R.A. & French, R.M. (2007). From Associations to Rules in Category Learning: A Connectionist Model.
    Associative Learning Symposium XI, Gregynog, Wales, April 2007.
  • Cowell, R.A. & French, R.M. (2007). From Associations to Rules in Category Learning: A Connectionist Model.
    Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop, Dijon, April 2007.

Poster Presentations

  • Cowell, R.A., Huber, D.E. & Cottrell, G.W. (2009). Virtual Brain Reading: A connectionist approach to understanding fMRI data.
    Vision Sciences Society Conference, Naples, Florida, May 2009.
  • Cowell, R.A., Huber, D.E. & Cottrell, G.W. (2009). Virtual Brain Reading: A connectionist approach to understanding fMRI data.
    CoSyNe Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, February 2009.
  • McTighe, S.M., Cowell, R.A., Winters, B.D., Bussey, T.J. & Saksida, L.M. (2008) Novel objects appear familiar following perirhinal cortical damage.
    Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference, Washington DC.
  • Cowell, R.A. & French, R.M. (2008). The Emergence of Rules in Category Learning.
    30th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Washington DC.
  • Cowell, R.A. & French R.M. (2007). Rule Extraction in Category Learning: a Semi-Supervised Neural Network Model.
    Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Conference, San Diego, CA, November 2007.
  • Cowell, R.A., Bussey, T.J. & Saksida, L.M. (2006). How does brain damage impair memory? A connectionist model of object recognition memory in perirhinal cortex.
    Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Conference, Houston, Texas, November 2006.
  • Cowell, R.A., Bartko, S.J., Bussey, T.J. & Saksida, L.M. (2005). A computational model of recognition memory in perirhinal cortex: a critical role for complex conjunctive representations.
    European Brain and Behaviour Society Conference, Dublin, September 2005.
  • Cowell, R.A., Bussey, T.J. & Saksida, L.M. (2004). Are there perceptual and mnemonic modules in the brain? A connectionist model of the effects of lesions in the ventral visual stream.
    Federation of European Neurosciences Conference, Lisbon, July 2004. Presented again at Oxford University’s Autumn School in Cognitive Neuroscience, September 2004.

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Public Understanding of Science

  • 2007 L'Experimentarium, University of Burgundy, France. In Dijon I participated in a group – called L’Experimentarium – in which PhD students and post-docs present their scientific research to a lay audience. I wrote a 20 minute workshop on my research using visual aids and an interactive game, and presented it to several groups of schoolchildren and to the general public at Dijon’s Saturday market. Click here to download my profile leaflet.
  • March 2004 & 2005 Science Week, Cambridge. Showing a real human brain to members of the public, explaining some basics of neuro-anatomy and answering questions.

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University Teaching

Lecturing

  • April 2010 Two introductory lectures at an international, post-graduate level mini-school focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to memory. Yerevan, Armenia.
  • December 2005 Lecture for Neuroscience Masters Degree Course, Goldsmith’s College, University of London.

Tuition of Lecture Material

  • 2004 – 2006 Supervision of Part II (third year undergraduate) Experimental Psychology lecture courses, University of Cambridge.
  • 2003 Supervision of Part 1B (second year undergraduate) Experimental Psychology lecture courses, University of Cambridge.

Supervision of Experimental Projects

  • Jun – Aug 2005 Supervision of an undergraduate student for a ten-week summer project (object recognition memory in rats), Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge
  • 2004 Supervision of two third year undergraduate students for a Part II Experimental Psychology Project (object recognition memory in rats), University of Cambridge.

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Peer Review of Journal Articles

I have acted as referee for articles submitted to:
  • Brain Research, Memory and Cognition, Hippocampus, PLoS One, Connection Science, Psychological Reports, Cognitive Science Society Conference

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Skills

Languages

  • English Mother Tongue
  • French Fluent spoken and written French.

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