Annik Yalnizyan-Carson

I did my undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Neuroscience at the University of Toronto. I didn't really know how to combine the two until a professor recommended I do an honours research course in computational neuroscience and I guess the rest is history!

My masters work was with Melanie Woodin (University of Toronto) modeling the effects of phosphorylation on the potassium-chloride cotransporter 2 (KCC2) and its role in inhibitory synaptic plasticity.

Currently, my PhD work is focused on how memory influences decision making in reward learning tasks. In particular, I'm interested in how autobiographical (episodic) memories can be used to make good decisions in novel or rapidly changing environments, where reliance on prescribed responses to specific stimuli (i.e. habitual behaviours) lead to mistakes.