Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, PhD

Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience: Neurogenesis, neurodegenerative diseases, brain-computer interfaces

Mr. Samuel Neff is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology's Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience program at George Mason University.  Currently, he works in Dr. Jane Flinn's lab on Alzheimer's research, with an interest in neurogenesis and the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

Samuel completed his Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Idaho in 2015, and completed his Master of Science in Psychology, with an emphasis in Human Factors, at the University of Idaho in 2018.  While completing his M.S. degree, he was heavily involved in the Palouse Injury Research lab, studying pedestrian safety and perceived behavioral control in simulated environments.  After completion of his M.S. degree, he worked as a federal contractor primarily focused on designing, implementing and validating user interfaces.  

Currently, Samuel is studying traumatic brain injury and using machine learning models to categorize and identify swim patterns in Morris Water Maze, drawing correlations between swim patterns, white matter pathology and motor deficits.  Due to his background in Human Factors, he is also interested in the possibility of using brain-computer interfaces in the treatment of various mental illnesses.