Daphna Shohamy

Daphna Shohamy is a professor of psychology at Columbia University, a member of the Zuckerman Mind, Brain, Behavior Institute, and of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science. Dr. Shohamy’s research combines brain imaging in healthy humans with studies of patients with brain disorders to understand how our expectations and experiences change the way memories are formed and the consequences for health and disease.

From robots to humans, the ability to learn from experience turns a rigid response system into a flexible, adaptive one. What are the neurobiological and cognitive mechanisms that allow everyday experiences to change the way we perceive, act and make decisions? Daphna Shohamy’s research explores how different parts of the brain work together to support learning, what this means for how memories are built, and what the consequences are for how we make decisions.

Daphna Shohamy is a member of the Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience Advisory Committee.