E-MAIL: haszx010@umn.edu
Undergraduate Institution and Major:
Brandeis University, B.S., Neuroscience and Computer Science, 2013
Graduate Advisor:
David Redish, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
Description of Graduate Research:
I study decision-making in rats. Specifically, what neural algorithms are used in hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex to make habitual and deliberative choices. Techniques I use include multi-electrode recordings in behaving rats, computational modeling, machine learning, and LFP and spike train analysis.
Graduate Publications:
- Hasz BM, Redish AD. Behavioral correlates of model-based and model-free uncertainty are revealed by a two-step decision task for rats. Front Integr Neurosci. 2018 Aug 3;12:30.
Professional Presentations:
- Comparisons between contingency encoding in prelimbic cortex and CA1 on a contingency-switching task for rats. Poster session presented at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Program No. 162.17, San Diego CA, November 2018.
- Behavioral correlates of deliberation and habit on a contingency-switching task for rats. Poster session presented at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Program No. 709.01, Washington DC, November 2017.
- Spike Decoding without Spike-sorting using Kernel Density Estimation. Poster presentation at the Minnesota Neuromodulation Symposium, Minneapolis MN, April 2017.
- An Unsupervised Algorithm for Neural Spike Sorting inspired by Superparamagnetic Clustering. Poster presentation at the Minnesota Neuromodulation Symposium, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, April 2016.
- Model-based and Model-free Neural Decision Making Systems. Oral presentation at Department of Neuroscience Colloquium Series, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, March 2016.
- Behavioral Correlates of Model-based and Model-free Decisions are Revealed by a Two-step Decision-task for Rats. Poster presentation at the Institute for Engineering in Medicine Annual Conference and Retreat, University of Minnesota, September 2016.
- A Spatial Two-stage Decision Task for Rats. Poster presentation at the Center for Cognitive Sciences Spring Research Day, University of Minnesota, April 2016.
- A Spatial Two-stage Decision Task for Rats. Poster presentation at the Institute for Engineering in Medicine Annual Conference and Retreat, University of Minnesota, September 2015.
- Rats in a Virtual Environment. Poster presentation at Department of Neuroscience Retreat, February 2015.
Graduate Level Awards And Honors:
- NSF IGERT Neuroengineering Fellowship Program, 2013
Professional Outreach:
- Brain Awareness Week Instructor, various Schools across the Twin Cities area 2014-2017
- Presenter at “Social Science”, Science Museum of Minnesota, October 2015 and 2016
- Volunteer at the Annual Brain Bee Competition, Minneapolis, MN, 2016
- Brains at the Fair, Minnesota State Fair University of Minnesota Booth, August 2016
- Brain Awareness Week Instructor, various Schools across the Twin Cities area 2014- Present
Professional Memberships:
- Society for Neuroscience, 2016 – present
Thesis Committee Members:
- Matthew Chafee, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience (Chair)
- Matthew Johnson, Ph.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering
- Theoden Netoff, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering
- David Redish, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
Research Areas:
- Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Rotations:
- Matthew Johnson, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering
- Duane Nykamp, Ph.D., Department of Mathematics
- David Redish, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
- Timothy Ebner, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
Why Did You Choose UMN?
I chose UMN because of the diversity of neuroscience research, the IGERT neuroengineering program, and because I was interested in the work of my advisor, Dr. David Redish.
What Advice Would You Give A First Year Graduate Student?
If you’re working on a “long-shot” project, try to have a “probably going to work” one as well on the side.