Zachariah Reagh
Principal Investigator
BS & BA: University of Alabama at Birmingham (2012)
PhD: University of California, Irvine (2017)
Postdoc: University of California, Davis (2017-2020)
Zach received his BS in Psychology and BA in Philosophy from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He earned his PhD in Neurobiology and Behavior from the University of California, Irvine, where he trained with Mike Yassa. His dissertation work focused on the functional organization of the hippocampus and medial temporal lobe cortex as individuals discriminate between interfering memories about objects and spatial organization, and how these brain regions were impacted by aging. He then completed his postdoctoral training at the University of California, Davis, working with Charan Ranganath. His postdoctoral work focused on how memory representations in cortico-hippocampal networks are extracted from naturalistic stimuli (e.g., movies), and how aging affects neural responses at the boundaries separating events. Zach’s current interests include the way structured knowledge is built from dynamic experiences, and how different aspects of event representations may be uniquely vulnerable in the aging brain.
When he isn’t doing research or teaching, Zach can be found attempting to juggle too many hobbies ranging from cycling to cooking to guitar to occasionally hurting himself on a skateboard. He has two dachshunds, which can sometimes be spotted around the lab.
Nichole Bouffard
Postdoctoral Scholar
BS: University of California, Davis (2015)
MS: University of Toronto (2019)
PhD: University of Toronto (2024)
Nichole received her B.S. in Psychology at the University of California, Davis where she worked with Dr. Arne Ekstrom studying spatial cognition. After graduating, she spent three years working as the lab manager/junior speciailist in Dr. Charan Ranganath’s Dynamic Memory Lab where she studied various aspects of episodic memory and collaborated on projects investigating temporal memory and schemas as well as cognitive maps and decision-making. She began graduate school in 2018 at the University of Toronto under co-supervision from Dr. Morgan Barense and Dr. Morris Moscovitch. She received her M.A. in 2019 and her Ph.D. in 2024. Her graduate work investigated hippocampal gradients of autocorrelation and how they are related to behavior and memory dysfunction. Now as a postdoctoral scholar, she aims to continue using her autocorrelation method to investigate how the brain processes complex, naturalistic events and to investigate how event boundaries structure our memory at retrieval. Outside of work Nichole spends her time doing yoga, playing volleyball, cooking elaborate meals, and exploring new bars and restaurants in St. Louis. She also occasionally convinces Adi to accompany her on random adventures to the car wash and to meet with strangers from Facebook marketplace.
Adi Upadhyayula
Postdoctoral Scholar
BE, MS: BITS Pilani, India (2013)
MS: North Carolina State University (2016)
MA: Johns Hopkins University (2018)
PhD: Johns Hopkins University (2021)
Postdoc: University of California, Davis (2021-2023)
shanmukha@wustl.edu
Personal website
If you are reading this after Nichole’s bio, this is the said Adi! If not, well, he’s still Adi anyway. Adi is interested in understanding how events are represented in the mind and the brain. During graduate school at Johns Hopkins where he trained as a vision scientist, Adi worked with Dr. Jon Flombaum on how we visually perceive and process time. After his PhD, he spent 2 years working with Dr. John Henderson at University of California, Davis, studying how people process spatiotemporal continuities when viewing naturalistic movies. During this time, he became interested in how we think about event representations. He now works with both Zach and Jeff to study this question. Adi loves to chat about event representations and all things cognition. If you happen to spot him at a conference, feel free to go say hi! Outside of work, Adi spends his time biking, walking, cooking, and thinking about how to buy his next guitar. He recently went to the Pacific Northwest for a short trip and is fully convinced that he now has a new personality and outlook towards life. Whatever makes him happy!
Savannah Born
Graduate Student
BS: Johns Hopkins University (2020)
Savannah Born received her BS in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University. During her undergraduate career she worked in Dr. Janice Chen’s lab, studying human memory using narratives and naturalistic stimuli. After graduating, she worked as the lab manager for the labs of Dr. Janice Chen and Dr. Chris Honey for three years. Her current research interests involve incorporating personality and social psychology to investigate individual differences in interpretation/memory of complex stimuli. Outside of the lab, Savannah can be found trying to learn cool gymnastics tricks, deeply immersed in a fantasy video game or book series, or walking her cat Milo on a leash.
Angelique Delarazan
Graduate Student
BA: University of California, Davis (2018)
MS: Washington University in St. Louis (2022)
Angelique Delarazan received her BA at the University of California, Davis, where she majored in Psychology and minored in Human Development. During her undergraduate career, she worked in Dr. Alison Ledgerwood’s Attitudes, Groups, and Identities Lab, studying framing effects on decision making. Angelique also worked in Dr. Charan Ranganath’s Dynamic Memory Lab, utilizing naturalistic paradigms to investigate the processes that support human memory. After graduating, she worked as a Junior Research Specialist in the Dynamic Memory Lab for two years. She is currently interested in the mechanisms underlying forgetting and its role in memory encoding and retrieval. She is also interested in understanding how temporal structure influences the construction of mental representation for events. Outside of the lab, Angelique enjoys spending time with family and friends, editing videos, and exercising.
Ata Karagoz
Graduate Student
BS: University of Texas at Austin (2018)
MS: Washington University in St. Louis (2022)
Personal websitea.b.karagoz@wustl.edu
Ata Karagoz received his BS in Neuroscience from the University of Texas. During his undergraduate career he worked under Drs. Kate Sherrill and Hannah Roome in Dr. Alison Preston’s Lab, studying spatial memory in virtual navigation tasks. After graduating he worked as the lab manager for the Preston Lab for two years. His current work deals with the formation and manipulation of knowledge structures in narrative tasks. He is also interested in how reward can modulate memory processes such as pattern separation. Ata reads a lot of science fiction and is currently trying to pick up bass guitar.
Rayna Tang
Graduate Student
BS: University of Toronto (2022)
MS: Washington University in St. Louis (2024)
rayna@wustl.eduRayna Tang received her Honours BS from the University of Toronto in Canada, where she specialized in Psychology and majored in Cognitive Science. During her undergraduate career, she worked in Dr. Michael Mack’s lab, studying the relationship between scene categorization and visual search. She also worked in Dr. Morgan Barense’s Memory and Perception Lab, understanding the memory formation of patients with amnesia. She did her undergraduate thesis in Dr. Asaf Gilboa’s lab, investigating the relationship between the ocular movement, imagination, and hippocampus activity in people with PTSD. Her current interests lie on the deconstruction of elements underlying episodic memory and their related brain mechanisms. Outside of the lab, Rayna spends her time on ballet, film photography, and trying cool stuff.
Sarah Morse
Lab Manager
BS: University of Alabama at Birmingham (2011)
MS: University of Alabama at Birmingham (2012)
morse@wustl.eduSarah received her BS in Molecular Biology and MS in Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At UAB, she studied the molecular mechanisms of memory decline during aging with a particular focus on the role of epigenetics in the hippocampus. Prior to joining the Complex Memory Lab, Sarah managed several research labs studying topics ranging from cancer biology to plant/structural biology to neurogenomics. She also manages the Dynamic Cognition Lab headed by Dr. Jeff Zacks. When she’s not in the lab or at the MRI facility, she can be found baking, cycling, hiking, practicing at the ceramics studio, catering to the whims of her two dogs, or trying her best not to kill her plants.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Tej Bhoga
Tej is an undergraduate student in the class of 2026. He is currently pursuing a major in Cognitive Neuroscience and minors in Computer Science and Design. Tej’s research interests include exploring memory processes, particularly in aging populations and investigating potential interventions to address memory-related challenges. In his free time, Tej enjoys making art, cooking, rock climbing, and exploring food and local spots in St. Louis.
Abby Buonato
Abby is an undergraduate student majoring in Philosophy, Neuroscience, & Psychology and Biochemistry. She is still exploring her research interests, but is particularly interested in memory’s effect on social behavior and interventions for memory-related challenges. In her free time, Abby enjoys hiking, baking, and playing classical guitar.
Elizabeth Chen
Elizabeth is an undergraduate student majoring in Psychology, Neuroscience, & Philosophy (PNP). She is still exploring her research interests, but she is particularly interested in how memory works in infants and how it develops as they grow older. Elizabeth likes to play video games, draw, and go out to eat with her friends.
Caroline Denny
Caroline is an undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry and Cognitive Neuroscience. She is currently exploring her research interests but has a particular fascination with how aging and conditions like Alzheimer’s Disease impact memory. In her free time, Caroline loves traveling, baking, hanging out with her two cats, and spending too much time knitting (which is how she knit the dress she is pictured wearing)!
Sophia Garthe
Sophia is an undergraduate student majoring in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology and Film and Media Studies. She is still exploring her career interests, but she is interested in the cognitive processes within the brain’s relationship with art and aesthetic experiences. When she’s not at school or working, Sophia loves to build her inventory of movies, read books, and go on drives around St. Louis.
Katherine March
Katherine is an undergraduate student at WashU majoring in Cognitive Neuroscience. Katherine’s main research interest focuses on the impact of sleeping disorders, especially narcolepsy, on memory and general brain health. Outside of WashU and the lab, Katherine enjoys traveling, reading books, and being far too invested in Formula 1.
Hannah Sabio
Bio coming soon.
Emily Swoboda
Emily is an undergraduate student majoring in Cognitive Neuroscience. She is still exploring her research interests, but she is particularly interested in how our memories change based on how we tell them, and what that looks like physically in the brain. Emily likes to read, dance, and try new coffee shops around St. Louis.
Leonardo Yang
Leonardo is an undergraduate student at WashU majoring in Cognitive Neuroscience. Leonardo’s interested in the effect of aging on memory and cognition and how we may slow or prevent its inevitable deterioration. When he’s not cramming for exams, Leonardo can be found in the kitchen cooking or in bed sleeping.
Cici Zhao
Cici is an undergraduate student at WashU majoring in Cognitive Neuroscience. She is primarily interested in narratives, including the role they play in cognitive functions as well as how they are composed and perceived. She is also actively exploring other memory-related topics such as the impact of aging on memory performance. She appreciates J-Pop and Vocaloid music, and enjoys playing all kinds of RPGs in her free time.
Alumni
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Sofia Angulo-Lopera
Elena Bosak
Evie Chen
Ron Fishman
Holly Graziano
Maya Greene
Ajay Guduputi
Lizbeth Guijarro-Magana
Julia Kirpalani
Veronica Lee
Tiana Mao
Jahnavi Nair
Julia Strauss
Jacob Tartakovsky
