厙ぴ勛圖

Manasi Jayakumar

(she/her/hers)

  • Assistant Professor of Psychology

Areas of Study

Education

  • BSE, biotechnology, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani - Dubai Campus, 2013
  • MS, applied cognition and neuroscience, University of Texas at Dallas, 2016
  • MA, psychology, Columbia University, 2020
  • MPhil, psychology, Columbia University, 2022
  • PhD, psychology, Columbia University, 2024

Biography

I am a cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist. I graduated with a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University. My dissertation research examined the impact of spontaneous attentional fluctuations on episodic memory. Broadly, I am interested in how our internal cognitive states during an experience can influence memory organization and retrieval, and how these processes differ between individuals. To address these questions, I use lab-based and online behavioral studies, eye-tracking, pupillometry, and computational modeling methods.

I have an undergraduate degree in biotechnology engineering, during which time I had a chance encounter with research on patient H.M. that ignited my curiosity about the cognitive neuroscience of memory. I then pursued a masters degree in applied cognition and neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas, followed by a two-year stint as a lab manager and research coordinator at Stanford University, before pursuing my PhD.

Spring 2027

Seminar in Memory and Cognition PSYC 436

Teaching Assistant PSYC 500

Practicum in Psychology PSYC 501

Supervised Research in Psychology (NSMA) - Full PSYC 511F

Supervised Research in Psychology (NSMA) - Half PSYC 511H

Independent Research Problems (NSMA) - Full PSYC 607F

Independent Research Problems (NSMA) - Half PSYC 607H

Psychology Honors (NSMA) - Full PSYC 609F

Psychology Honors (NSMA) - Half PSYC 609H

繙author is/was an undergraduate research mentee.
榮uthor is/was a post-baccalaureate research scholar.

  • Jayakumar, M., Tsegai Moore, A., Nemeth, C.繙, Aly M. (under review). Pupil size at encoding predicts the temporal structure of memory. PsyArXiv
  • Jayakumar, M., Balusu, C.繙, & Aly, M. (2023). Attentional fluctuations and the temporal organization of memory. Cognition, 235, 105408.  
  • Jayakumar, M.*, Tarder-Stoll, H.*, Dimsdale-Zucker, H.R., G羹nseli, E., & Aly, M. (2019). Dynamic internal states shape memory retrieval. Neuropsychologia, 138, 107328.  *denotes equal contribution to first authorship.

  • Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Instructor, Columbia University, 2024
  • Teaching Scholar, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Columbia University, 2023-2024 
  • Graduate Student Travel Grant, Society for the Teaching of Psychology, 2023