Sara Levens
6 Washington Place.
Psychology Department Rm. 863
New York, NY 10003
sml286@nyu.edu
(212) 998-3779


EDUCATION:
Undergraduate:
1997-2001 University California Berkeley
Major: Psychology
Emphasis: Neuropsychology

Graduate:
2001-present New York University
Field: Psychology Department
Emphasis: Cognition and Perception
Advisor: Elizabeth Phelps

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
February 2002 - present     Primary Investigator
- present INHIBITORY PROCESSING OF GOAL RELATED STIMULI IN WORKING MEMORY
Faculty Advisor: Elizabeth Phelps; Collaborative Advisors: Peter Gollwitzer & Gagrielle Oettingen
Aim: The goal of this project is to determine how and if, inhibition differentially processes goal related stimuli in working memory in high vs. low incentive conditions.

February 2002 - present     Primary Investigator and Research Advisor
AFFECT PICTURE PROCESSING EFFECTS ON INHIBITORY PROCESSING IN WORKING MEMORY
Faculty Advisor: Elizabeth Phelps; Collaboration with Elizabeth Sanders an Intel Science Competition High School student
Aim: The goal of this project is to characterize how affective arousing pictures interact with inhibitory processing in working memory.

November 2001 - present     Special Project
FRONTAL LOBE PATEINT GROUP
Aim: The formation of a frontal lobe patient group for research purposes in cooperation with Orin Devinsky M.D. of the New York Medical School and Elizabeth Phelps Ph.D.

August 2001 - present     Primary Investigator
EMOTION PROCESSING EFFECTS ON INHIBITORY PROCESSING IN WORKING MEMORY
Faculty advisor: Elizabeth Phelps, Ph.D.
Aim: The goal of this project is to characterize how emotional stimuli influence the role of the prefrontal cortex to suppress irrelevant information during working memory storage and manipulation. Varying response times (and in the future- accordant fMRI scans) are compared and analyzed to examine the interaction between inhibition and emotion.

July 2000 - May 2000     Research Assistant
EMOTIONAL REACTIVITY, REGULATION, AND UNDERSTANDING IN PATIENTS WITH FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA AND ORBITOFRONTAL DAMAGE
Supervisor: Robert W. Levenson, Ph.D.; Dacher Keltner, Ph.D.; Robert T. Knight, M.D.
Aim: This study examines the effects of focal brain damage on emotional experience and expression using self-report, behavioral, and physiological methodology.

May 2000 - May 2001     Research Assistant
FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING STUDY OF VERBAL, OBJECT, AND SPACIAL, PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE
Supervisor: Clayton Cutis, Ph.D.; Mark D’Esposito, M.D.
Aim: This study examines the phenomenon of proactive interference and compares verbal, object, and spatial interference and their respective activation of different brain regions. Varying response times and accordant fMRI scans are compared and analyzed to examine the effects of interference in different processing systems.

March 2000 - July 2001     Honors Thesis Research Project
ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX DAMAGE AND EMOTIONAL PROCESSING
Supervisor: Robert T. Knight, M.D.; Robert W. Levenson Ph.D.
Aim: This study examines the effects of orbitofrontal damage on responding to emotional laden startle stimuli, specifically the automatic startle response using a combination of self-report, behavioral, and physiological methodology.
Awarded UC Berkeley Fellowship for Undergraduate Research

May 1999 - May 2001     Research Assistant
BERKELEY EMOTION AND ETHNICITY STUDY
Supervisor: Robert W. Levenson, Ph.D.; Nicole A. Roberts, Doctoral Candidate.
Aim: This study examines cultural influences on emotional experience and expression using self-report, behavioral, and physiological methodology.

CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE, PRESENTATIONS, AND AWARDS

  • Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference 2003, Poster

  • Emotion Processing Effects on Inhibitory Function in Working Memory.
         Levens, S. L., Sanders, E. L., Arenas, M., Phelps, E. A. of New York University, New York, NY 10003

  • Summer Institute in Cognitive Neuroscience 2002

  • Society for Neuroscience Conference 2001, Poster
         Orbitofrontal Cortex and Activation of Defense Responses.
         Roberts, N.A., Levens, S.M., McCoy, K., Werner, K.H., Beer, J.S., Scabini, D., Knight, R.T., & Levenson, R.W. of
         University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

  • Madison Wisconsin Symposium on the Neurobiology of Positive Emotion 2001, Health Science Research Institute.
         Health Emotions Research Institute Scholar Award

  • Society for Neuroscience Conference 2000

  • Madison Wisconsin Symposium on the Neurobiology of Positive Emotion 2000, Health Science Research Institute.
         Health Emotions Research Institute Student Award