KOHLER VISUAL NEUROSCIENCE LAB

KOHLERLAB

KVNL

Peter J. Kohler (he, him, his) Peter J. Kohler Peter J. Kohler Principal Investigator Principal Investigator PI

Peter is originally from Denmark, but have lived and worked in North America since 2007. He received his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience in 2013 from Dartmouth College, before becoming a post-doctoral scholar at Stanford University, working with Professor Tony Norcia. He joined York University as an Assistant Professor in 2019. He is a Core Member of Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) and a member of the Center for Vision Research at York University. Download CV. Google Scholar. Publons.

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We are currently recruiting graduate students! For more information on applying to the graduate program in Psychology at York University, please see here. Please note that if you are interested in being supervised by Professor Kohler, you must select Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Sciences (BBCS) as your first choice area of specialization during the application process, otherwise he will not have access to your application.

We are also recruiting undergraduate students! Please get in touch if you are an undergrad at York who is interested in learning about using behavioral methods, EEG and functional MRI to study the human visual system.

Mohammad Shams-Ahmar (he, him, his) Mohammad Shams-Ahmar Mohammad Shams Postdoctoral Scholar Postdoc Postdoc

Mohammad is a post-doctoral scholar co-supervised by Prof. Peter Kohler and Prof. Patrick Cavanagh. Mohammad received his PhD from the University of Tübingen in 2022, where he worked with Prof. Peter Thier studying the mechanisms enabling saccadic eye movements. At York University Mohammad is working on questions relating to object-based attention, motion-induced and frame-induced mislocalization, and visual stability during eye movements.

Sara Chaparian (she, her, hers) Sara Chaparian Sara Chaparian PhD Student, Biology PhD Student PhD Student

Sara is a PhD student in the Biology program, co-supervised by Prof. Kohler and Prof. Jeff Schall. She earned her Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence from The University of Isfahan in Iran. Sara possesses valuable experience in neuroscience data analysis, and has utilized advanced machine learning and artifical intelligence methodologies to detect evidence of atypical neurodevelopment based on EEG data. Her current research aims to relate variability in scalp EEG to variability in cortical morphology, which will make it possible to more closely relate EEG-based biomarkers to differences in activity of cortical neurons.

Shenoa Ragavaloo (she, her, hers) Shenoa Ragavaloo Shenoa Ragavaloo Master’s Student, Psychology Master’s Student MA Student

Shenoa is a Master’s student in the Psychology program, supervised by Prof. Kohler, and is currently working on a project using high-density EEG to begin to understand how the brain encodes symmetries over novel, naturalistic objects under conditions of perspective distortion that occur during natural vision. Shenoa has presented her work at national and international conferences.

Yara Iskandar (she, her, hers) Yara Iskandar Yara Iskandar Master’s Student, Psychology Master’s Student MA Student

Yara is a Master’s student in the Psychology program. Yara joined the lab as an undergraduate student, working on a project using EEG to probe the spatial mechanisms that mediate visual responses to symmetries in textures. For her Master’s thesis, she is building on this work using functional MRI, in a project that aims to relate symmetry sensitivity to the properties of receptive fields of distinct visual regions. Yara has presented her work at national and international conferences, including a talk at the Vision Sciences Society in Florida in 2023, for which she won the VSS travel award. In her free time Yara enjoys reading, exercising, and playing chess.

Shaya Samet (he, him, his) Shaya Samet Shaya Samet Master’s Student, Psychology Master’s Student MA Student

Shaya is a Master’s student in the Psychology program. Before starting graduate school, he completed a Specialized Honours thesis under Prof. Kohler’s supervision on the roles of perceptual load and object salience in inattentional blindness. He then did an Individual Research Project, where he contributed to a study on working memory and symmetry, and was trained in collecting high-density EEG data from adult and infant participants. All of this prepared him well for his thesis work, where he uses EEG to study how local and configural information contributes to shape perception. Shaya has presented his work at national and international conferences, and won the 2nd place award for best poster presentation at the Lake Ontario Visionary Establishment Conference in 2023.

Shadi Ahmari (she, her, hers) Shadi Ahmari Shadi Ahmari Master’s student, Biology Master’s student MSc student

Shadi is a Master’s student in the Biology program, with a solid background in biomedical engineering and a deep enthusiasm for brain research. Her primary focus is on identifying psychometric thresholds for symmetry and contrast detection in novel, three-dimensional objects. Shadi is dedicated to creative and interdisciplinary research, applying brain science to various fields. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, photography, and performance art, often visiting galleries to stay inspired.

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