Publications

• Episodic memory encoding interferes with reward learning and decreases striatal prediction errors
• A Trade-Off between Feedback-Based Learning and Episodic Memory for Feedback Events: Evidence from Parkinson’s Disease
• Retroactive and graded prioritization of memory by reward
• Mind matters: placebo enhances reward learning in Parkinson's disease
• Motivational modes and learning in Parkinson’s disease
• Dopamine modulation of intertemporal decision-making: Evidence from Parkinson disease

Memory Expert - Eyewitness Testimony & Id

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

I am a Cognitive Neuroscientist specializing in memory, learning, and decision making. I provide expert witness testimony on the complexities of eyewitness accounts, including issues related to false memories, the misattribution effect, memory reconstruction, and the inherent susceptibility of normal memory recall to error. I earned my Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University and have published extensively in leading scientific journals such as Nature Neuroscience and Nature Communications. My dissertation focused on the retroactive modulation of memory, exploring how memories can be altered by events that follow their initial encoding. Decades of research have shown that when we recall an event, memory is not replayed perfectly like a video recording. Instead, the brain reconstructs the memory each time it is remembered, relying on associative processes. This reconstruction makes memory—and therefore eyewitness testimony—vulnerable to errors and biases. Despite strong scientific evidence, many people overestimate the accuracy of memory and hold common misconceptions about its reliability. I consult on matters across a range of legal domains, including criminal defense (from financial crimes to allegations of sexual assault), family law, and environmental litigation. In each context, I provide scientific analysis of how memory processes—particularly those involved in eyewitness identification and post-event contamination—can impact the reliability of testimony.