Faraz Farzin, Ph.D.

Faraz received her B.S. in Genetics from U.C. Davis in 2001 and her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from U.C. Davis in 2010. Her dissertation research, conducted under the mentorship of David Whitney and Susan Rivera, used behavioral and eye-tracking paradigms combined with visual psychophysics to examine conscious visual perception in typically and atypically developing infants.

 

As a postdoc in Tony Norcia's lab, Faraz examines the neural mechanisms that constrain visual processing in infants, children and adults using the steady-state Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) technique. In doing so, she is bridging the gap between brain and behavioral development.

Faraz's overarching goal is to understand the origins and outcomes of visual perception, and to use this knowledge to drive the design and evaluation of educational games for visual learning.

 

Most Recent Publications:

▪ Ryokai, K., Farzin, F., Kaltman, E., Niemeyer, G. (in press). Assessing multiple object tracking in young children using a game.  Education Technology Research and Development.

 

▪ Farzin, F., & Norcia, A.M. (2012). Piecing it together: infants' neural responses to face and object structure. Journal of Vision.

 

▪ Ales, J.M., Farzin, F., Rossion, B., Norcia, A.M. (2012). An objective method for measuring face detection thresholds using the sweep steady-state visual evoked response. Journal of Vision.

 

▪ Farzin, F., & Norcia, A.M. (2011). Impaired visual decision-making in individuals with amblyopia. Journal of Vision.

 

▪ Farzin, F., Rivera, S.M., Whitney, D. (2011). Resolution of spatial and temporal visual attention in infants with fragile X syndrome. Brain.

 

▪ Farzin, F., Rivera, S.M., Whitney, D. (2011). Time crawls: The temporal resolution of infant visual attention. Psychological Science.

 

▪ Farzin, F., Scaggs, F., Hervey, C., Berry-Kravis, E., Hessl, D. (2011). Reliability of eye tracking and pupillometry measures in individuals with fragile X syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

 

▪ Farzin, F., Rivera, S.M., Whitney, D. (2010). Spatial resolution of conscious visual perception in infants. Psychological Science.

 

▪ Farzin, F., & Rivera, S.M. (2010). Dynamic object representations in infants with and without fragile X syndrome. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

 

 

Research Funding:

• NIH/NEI: Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral NRSA “Hierarchical development of temporal processing in human visual cortex.” (2011-2013)
• NIH/NIMH: Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral NRSA “Spatial and temporal visual attention in fragile X syndrome.” (2008-2010)