I’m interested in how the Mind/Brain works (Brind? Mrain?). Moderately more specifically, I’m interested in how the Brind/Mrain does math. What are the cognitive and neural precursors that allow children to understand basic numerical and mathematical concepts? What role does culture play? For instance, is education essentially a requirement for most humans to grasp even basic mathematics? If so, then what can psychology and neuroscience tell us about how to improve math education? What can math education tell us about how to improve psychology and neuroscience? Good science needs good questions, and experience suggests that educators tend to ask very good questions. Send us a question, and we’ll see what we can do. 

Email: iml30@georgetown.edu

Curriculum Vitae                    Publications                    More About Ian

Cynthia Fioriti

Cynthia is a fifth-year PhD student in the Human Development and Public Policy program under the mentorship of Ian Lyons. She received her Bachelors of Science in Psychological & Brain Sciences, with concentrations in Neuroscience and Computer Science, from Catholic University in 2019. After graduation, she went on to work at the National Institutes of Health where she studied the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on episodic and procedural memory networks. Cynthia is interested in the functional and structural representations of mathematical learning in the brain, and how these systems translate into behavior and cognition.

Email: cmf302@georgetown.edu

Haya Halabieh

Haya Halabieh is a first-year PhD student in the Lifespan Cognitive Neuroscience track of the Psychology program, advised by Ian Lyons. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 2023 with Bachelor's degrees in Applied Mathematics and Cognitive Science. While at Berkeley, she served as an Undergraduate Student Instructor for Calculus and Linear Algebra. Her research journey began in the Cognition & Expertise Lab at McGill University, examining challenges and interventions in higher education with Dr. Daniel Levitin. Following graduation, she worked as a Data Engineer at Tesla and later as a Software Engineer on the Machine Learning team at Ceribell, where she worked on EEG-based seizure detection algorithms. Building on this interdisciplinary background in cognitive science, mathematics, and data science, her current research focuses on the cognitive mechanisms of mathematical problem solving. She is particularly interested in what makes mathematical reasoning unique. In her spare time, she enjoys going to concerts, traveling, hiking, painting, knitting, and reading.

Email: hh976@georgetown.edu

Erika Ikeda

Erika is primarily interested in affective computing, visual cognition, and human-machine interaction. She graduated from Rutgers University with a B.A. in psychology, where she worked on projects centered around emotion recognition, self-regulation, and how people engage with technology. Currently, her research focuses on investigating the role of time pressure and environmental influences on voluntary academic engagement.

Email: ei148@georgetown.edu

Lucas Miller

Lucas joined the lab as a Research Associate after graduating from Haverford College in 2024, where he studied psychology, data science, and neuroscience and completed his undergraduate thesis on donation as an emotion regulation strategy. Lucas is interested in a variety of cognitive psychology topics and is excited to explore them in the context of numerical processing, math education, and more! Outside of the lab, Lucas can be found trying out a new board game, reading some science fiction, or enjoying the great outdoors.

Email: lm1690@georgetown.edu

Lauren Santoro

Lauren is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences who is majoring in psychology with an English and disability studies double-minor. She is interested in how disability, illness, education, and psychotherapy interventions can help us understand people with anxiety disorders, math anxiety, and depression. Post-Georgetown, she plans to go to grad school to become a therapist, primarily working with adolescent and young adult populations.

Heidi Paisley

Heidi is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences from Salt Lake City, Utah majoring in psychology and double minoring in cognitive science and disability studies. She is interested in the structural and functional processes behind how we connect with each other, ourselves, and the environment. After earning her bachelor's degree, Heidi plans on attending graduate school and pursuing a career in the mental health field.

Andy Zhang

Andy is currently a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences majoring in Neurobiology with a psychology minor. He's interested in how children learn about math in classrooms and the roles in which their peers and teachers play in their confidence and anxiety around mathematics. After graduation, Andy hopes to attend medical school and pursue a career in pediatrics, more specifically in psychiatry or neurology.

Dr. Jane Hutchison, Graduate Student

Dr. Richard Daker, Graduate Student

Ander Avdellas, Lab Manager

Anita Grabowska, Lab Manager

Sylvia Gattas, Lab Manager