• neuropolitics
• political judgment
• political choice
• affective polarization

People's differences spark my curiosity. While studying political science and economics, I observed how societies are shaped by individuals with differing, sometimes extremely divergent, perspectives on the same events and issues. I wanted to understand why we think so differently, which led me to pursue a degree in brain and cognitive sciences.
I aim to explore the relationship between cognitive mechanisms and political decision-making. Through my research, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the political decision-making process and contribute to building a better society.

• Genetics
• Behavioral Neuroscience

During my master studies In Verona I acquired general knowledge regarding the molecular techniques to be used to do research in the medical biology. My interests lead me to pursue an internship in a Neuroscience laboratory here in KAIST and from that moment my path continued until now with the PhD course from which I wish I will be able to achieve some major breakthrough and publications. My focus will revolve around the emergent technology of Antisense Oligonucleotide and I hope that through my testing, it will be possible to prove that it can be used as a tool to improve cognitive functions such as working memory

• Decision-making
• Machine Learning
• Evolutionary Algorithms
• Robotics
• Meta-learning
• Diversity
• Open-ended learning

I completed a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at the University of Paris and pursued my studies with a master’s degree of AI at Sorbonne University in France. My research was conducted at the ISIR lab, where I specialized in multi-criteria decision making and stochastic optimization. I strove to develop cognitive functions for object manipulation by robotics hands, in an open-ended learning context (with no a priori knowledge of the environments). I developed Meta-learning algorithms in sparse rewards environments, which led me to focus on reversing the paradigm of Machine learning by fostering behavioral diversity and adaptation to unforeseen events instead of raw episodic performance.

Having worked closely with neuroscientists during this time, I craved to deal with more fundamentals aspects of intelligence. I therefore joined the Laboratory for Brain and Machine intelligence at KAIST, where I currently am a Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Professor Lee, Sang Wan.

Thanks to our multi-disciplinary cooperation, I seek to understand the mechanisms at hand behind the brain’s dynamic aggregation of experts in its decision making and learning process. Moreover, I hope to leverage my previous research in behavioral adaptation in order to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life for neurodegenerative patients.

My dream for neuroscience is that, very much like Asimov’s imaginary Psychohistory, we build a theory of the mind that can predict human behavior through his potential for freedom and creativity, rather than shrinking it for control.

• Mental Impairment
• Networks
• Psychopathology
• Decision-making
• Memory and Learning
• Clinical Neuroscience

Iuliia acquired broad biological knowledge during her undergraduate studies. She worked as a scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific R&D. During her studies she developed an interest in brain sciences studying the mechanisms underlying brain function, including emotion, thinking, learning, decision-making, and perception. She got training in a neurophysiology lab investigating neuronal network properties in visual processing. She hopes to find new biomedical applications and bridge the knowledge gaps in our understanding of psychiatric diseases in the context of the different cognitive domains using the strength of multiple tools of cognitive science. She is eager to explore how networks modulate cognition and what factors cause their disruption.

• Neurological disorders
• Behavioral Neuroscience
• Neuronal Electrophysiology
• Neural Network
• Circuit-based mechanism

I hold a Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences from the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Throughout my undergraduate years, I engaged in two internships that significantly influenced my academic interest. The first internships was at a Dutch plant-research company, where I worked in the field of microbiology, specifically developing detection methods for plant pathogens. However, I knew my true interests were withing the field of neuroscience. Consequently, I excitedly engaged in an 8-month internship at KAIST in Korea, where I focused on glia-research. During this period I worked on the mechanisms of synapse elimination through the induction of stress during the juvenile period in mice, to induce depression-like behavior. I greatly enjoyed my time in Korea and at KAIST, thus, I wanted to continue my studies here and continued by entering the Integrated MS/Ph.D. graduate course in the Biological Sciences Department. Over the initial three years of my graduate studies, my focus lay on sensory processing, particularly the mechanism of sensorimotor gating and its disruption in Schizophrenia. This period exposed me to a wide array of techniques, from neuronal electrophysiological recordings to Electromyography (EMG) measurements, PPI behavioral experiments, and, neural optogenetic manipulation. My research interests subsequently evolved, prompting a shift to the lab of Professor Kim Daesoo within the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department. Here, my sights are set on a fresh start, equipped with innovative techniques, I aspire to contribute meaningful insights to the captivating field of neuroscience.

• Brain-body interactions
• Cognition
• Neuro-ethology
• Consciousness

I am a psychologist with a Master's in Cognitive Neuroscience from Taipei Medical University in Taiwan. My research has centred on investigating the complex relationship between the brain and body, particularly during voluntary actions. I’ve always been fascinated by the biology underpinnings of behaviour and cognition, how they compared across species and influence our identity.
At KAIST, I am excited to expand my research into interdisciplinary avenues, bridging neuroscience with other fields to gain deeper insights into the biological basis of behavior. My current focus is on exploring how brain-body interactions might influence self-consciousness.

• neural networks
• neuroplasticity
• learning
• hormones
• neurotransmitters

1. As a young and curious student, I had a deep interest in the design of the human brain. I found it captivating how the brain, a shared organ among us, can develop our unique cognitive world shaped by personal experiences and cultural backgrounds.

In a sense, each of us is one among the myriad potential outcomes in which the brain could have developed. Then, the next question is what is the fundamental function of the brain?

To address this inquiry, I pursued to study psychology and was involved as an undergraduate researcher at the University of Utah; Where I gradually recognized the profound impact of biological factors on our cognitive processes. This realization further propelled my passion, prompting me to apply KAIST, where I am determined to delve deeply into the function and interplay of between neural networks and human behavior.

2. I have graduated from University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology. I will be joining Dr. Kwon’s Cognitive Neural Network Lab.

3&4. I aim to make a contribution towards enhancing the comprehension of human behavior by delving into novel neural networks. Through research on the underlying principles of the brain and the neural dynamics, I aspire to position brain science as a proficient tool that aids in the pursuit of self-understanding and beyond.

• Human-AI Value Alignment Problem
• Intelligent Control
• Brain-Computer Interface
• Brain-Inspired AI
• Reinforcement Learning
• State Inference

Young is involved with designing a system that optimizes control degrees of freedom for the human-machine interaction. That is, for each given circumstance, the system being able to make rigorous inferences on the user’s desiderata with high degree of precision. Concurrently, it should also minimize the user’s burden of communicating with the system via introducing an intuitive and ergonomic interface. He believes that solid corner stones of such a system can be found from disciplines such as cognitive neuroscience and machine learning. By investigating a computational model of cognitive processes of interest built based on neural and/or behavioral data, latent variables of the model that truly reflect key aspects of the human’s cognitive status would reveal themselves. Consequently, he says, the human-like intelligent machine will then be able to grasp the user’s intention and/or objectives from which a demanding sequence of actions can be generated on behalf of the user. Overall, this will allow the machine to be truly aligned with human values; this will be one promising solution for the human-AI value alignment problem to which Young is currently dedicated. Ultimately, he anticipates, and desires to contribute to, such system to shift the extent to which each individual’s spacetime utilization in an exponential manner, whilst maintaining its economical efficiency.

• Behavioral Neuroscience
• Learning
• Motion

Currently a Ph.D candidate at KAIST, my studies involve the role of M2 in a naturalistic hunting environment. I firmly believe that naturalistic settings reveal more about behavior and the brain mechanisms behind it. With data and behavior being more complex in naturalistic settings, the importance of its analysis also led me to do some coding and data analysis in my free time, which I enjoy very much.

• synapse
• brain disease
• ASD
• abnormal behavior
• brain function

I graduated from the Department of Biological Sciences at KAIST and joined the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences to understand the brain deeply. I am interested in finding the causes and resolving the problems in the brain. Now, I am studying how the ASD-risk gene mutation causes ASD behavior by using molecular biology, electrophysiology, and behavior analysis. Through this course, I want to become a scientist who can help people with various brain diseases by understanding and analyzing the brain.

• Clinical neuroscience
• sleep disorder
• anxiety and depression
• sleeping behaviour and memory
• neurocognitive disorder
• sleep cycle

Studying psychology as an undergraduate and having a particular interest in the relationship between sleeping behaviours and memory, I gradually became interested in neurocognitive science. I aim to acquire a higher level of understanding in neurocognitive science at KAIST based on computational methodology, primarily focusing on the relations between brain-damaged disorders, sleeping disorders and treatments. My ultimate target for my research is building an evidence base to contribute to treatment development for brain diseases related to sleeping issues. Specifically, I hope to research topics of understanding how sleeping disorders can cause and contribute to various risks and other brain damage and how the human sleep cycle (circadian rhythm) can affect and be affected by brain damage and neurocognitive disorders.

• Affective Science
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Social Psychology
• Emotion differentiation

#Affective Science #Cognitive Neuroscience #Social Psychology #Emotion differentiation
Baekho Kim has a comprehensive interest in the mechanisms and characteristics of affective science, such as individual subjective feelings, emotions, and moods. In particular, He would like to study the process by which emotions are composed, such as expression, regulation, sharing, and cognition of emotions, and the process by which those are expressed and accepted by people. By interpreting physiological indicators like EEG and ECG from a social psychological perspective, he would like to study how individuals differentiate and accept emotions, and how those processes affect their quality of life and health. Ultimately, he wants to reveal how each person can understand and utilize their emotions in a healthy way.

• Cognitive load
• Working memory
• fMRI

Sejin Kim is currently progressing doctoral degree after obtaining a master’s degree from KAIST. During his master’s program, he studied the difference responses in brain regions that the human brain utilizes for memory function depending on the type of memory informations. This experience led him to pursue an understanding of the mechanisms behind the expression of cognitive and memory abilities. Therefore, he decided to enroll a doctoral course in the department of cognitive neuroscience.

• Systems neuroscience
• Neural circuits
• Visual perception
• Conscious perception

It struck me during my undergraduate studies that we never truly experience the physical world around us except through the neural signals entering our brain. Throughout my bachelor’s at the Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST, I studied how neural signals can be measured or modulated in the brain. At the department of Brain Cognitive Sciences, I aim to better understand what these neural signals represent, and how perceptual experiences arise from them. I am currently at the Sensory Processing Lab investigating the perceptual component of visual behavioral tasks using invasive electrophysiology in mice. Ultimately, I wish to dissect the complexity of our experiences, thereby allowing us to go beyond the biolimits of our percepts.

• Brain-inspired AI
• Decision neuroscience
• Computational neuroscience
• Reinforcement learning
• Neuroeconomics

The human brain is a fascinating subject for research. Among all the various topics, however, it is understanding of brain’s intricate functions and its reflection in our brain when a decision is made that are especially thrilling for me. I chose the Brain Cognitive Science program at KAIST because it does not only offer the opportunities to conduct studies on these phenomena but also provide avenues for applying insights gained from such works on our brain to other research topics, such as brain-inspired artificial intelligence. Specifically, I find emulating the brain’s learning strategy to overcome the trade-off issues associated with AI’s learning systems to be particularly captivating and exciting. Ultimately, I aspire to be an interdisciplinary scholar whose work does not only contribute to what we know about human brain and the mind but also to the application of this knowledge in fields such as AI.

• Brain-Body
• Neural circuit
• Instinctive behavior
• Behavior neurosceince
• Neural disorder

Kim Ha-kyeong delves into understanding the interplay between the brain and body in shaping behavior, utilizing a biological background to explore the connection between neural processes and instinctive behaviors.
Presently ongoing research focuses on the relationship between exercise and stress responses. What drives both humans and animals towards physical activity? To unravel this, a comprehensive array of tools such as optogenetics, photometry, electromyography, and behavioral experimentation are applied, aiming to cast a novel light on the physiological and psychological dimensions of the brain-body connection.
Furthermore, the research extend to illuminating the relationship between mental disorders and instinctive behaviors. These insights are intended to contribute to the advancement of human health and happiness.

• internal states
• theoretical neuroscience
• neural circuit
• neural cell type
• deep brain
• evolution

Changing my major interest from experimental to theoretical neuroscience, I chose BCS for the environment which I can use theories and methods from both sides. Hopefully I can come up with more general hypotheses from these sources. Currently, my focus is on how neurotransmitters and neuropeptides can change the neural circuit and network dynamics, and consequently the internal states. My future goal is to study the evolutionary history and its adaptive function of the neural system that controls internal states.

• motivation
• cognition
• social behavior
• neural circuit
• disease modeling
• neurofeedback

Gaeun Ryu has been fascinated by self-understanding through interaction with the world and the brain as a mediator. To explore this, she has studied brain&cognitive sciences and life science in her undergraduate years, and is currently an MS student in prof. Jeong Jaeseung’s Lab, the Decision brain dynamics lab. Her research interest is scientific and empirical proof of human motivation and behavior. In particular, she focuses on identifying neural circuits involved in social behavior and extending them to related brain diseases to understand their neuropathological mechanisms. Furthermore, she aims to apply modeling to disease diagnosis and treatment. She aspires to understand the brain and humans through multidisciplinary research, and to contribute to multiple disciplines based on her findings.

• Visual prosthetics
• multi-sensory perception
• sensory-disability

I majored in Chemistry during my undergraduate years at Korea University. While studying science, I realized that technological advancements aimed at creating a more convenient world can inadvertently widen the gap among people. Therefore, it is necessary to develop technology for a convenient world, but I thought, "Someone should also develop technology for a world that is not-uncomfortable" With this in mind, I became determined to contribute to narrowing the gap by developing technologies to overcome sensory disabilities. I have a particular interest in various sensory impairments, including blindness. Starting with learning about visual prosthetics in Professor Seung Woo Lee's laboratory, I aspire to expand my knowledge to encompass other sensory disabilities, with the ultimate goal of sharing our daily lives and experiences.

Majoring in Psychology at McGill University, Jae Bin had the opportunity to create intervention programs for young adults that aimed to improve their mental health and also handle real-life stressors. His current research interest includes resilience and suicide and eventually, Jae Bin hopes to study and develop empirically-supported interventions programs that can help improve the resilience of individuals.

• Emotional disorder
• Depression
• Neural circuit
• Neuromodulator

Jungyoung Park studied regulation of behavioral responses to stress by microRNA in her master's degree. In particular, depressive like behaviors and cognitive dysfunction are recovered when a specific microRNA is overexpressed in the mouse mPFC following MDD induced stress. During her research, she was wondering what neural circuits induce depressive like behaviors. And now she is going to find an answer to it. She wants to study the neural circuits and neuromodulators in behaviors of emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety at the Cognitive Neural Network Lab. After a doctor's degree, she extends her research area to diagnostic kit development and enters the market making use of her diagnostic research experiences. She wants to contribute to improving the accuracy of diagnosis, ultimately reducing the social cost of mental disorders and making a better world.

• Brain Computer Interface
• Brain Stimulation

Hello, I'm Minseo Bang, majored Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST. During my undergraduate studies, I gained experience in various fields through a variety of courses and internships, which led to my growing interest in applying engineering to brain-machine interfaces, particularly in the context of cognitive neuroscience. I'm particularly interested in research aimed at reducing the gap between human cognition and the information decoded from brainwaves and brain imaging. In graduate school, I aspire to conduct research that utilizes brainwaves and bio-signals to create brain-machine interfaces that can transmit information more closely resembling human thought. Additionally, I want to develop interfaces that can deliver and generate sensations tailored to individual preferences through electromagnetic stimulation.

• BCI
• Neural Prostheses
• NCD rehabilitation
• Vision
• Computational Modeling

I am interested in the engineering approaches to treating cognitive or sensory disorders. While studying psychology, life sciences, and computer engineering at Sogang University, I became interested in cognitive neurological disorders, their neurophysiological mechanisms, and computational neural modeling. Therefore, starting with deep stimulation and visual prostheses, I would like to broaden my understanding of BCI and contribute to developing prosthetic technologies applicable to rehabilitation.

• neural circuit
• consciousness
• ion channel

Studying the brain and how humans think is a major question to all humans. Acknowledging the importance of understanding both biology and engineering to truly understand the brain, I have studied medical biology and engineering in my undergraduate years. Studying ion channels as a protein and the circuit they constitute in the brain, have led me to explore deeper into the consciousness of the mind. My interests include how humans think and process thought, exploring them with computational science and big data, including the biological mechanisms behind it. Moreover, hope to understand the human itself better through interdisciplinary studies including human history, philosophy, and psychology.

• personalized diagnosis
• disease in dish
• developmental disorder
• degenerative disease

Eunjin majored in psychology from Korea University. During that time, she worked as lab assistant in Biopsychology lab, involving in mouse experiment of sleep disorder. Also she assisted the research about autism spectrum disorder in Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences(CNdS) lab. Currently, she interested in personalized diagnosis and treatment system on mental disorder.

• depression
• suicide ideation
• suicide prevention
• mood disorders
• mental disorders

SeungYoon attained her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Glasgow. During her studies, she developed an interest about the reasons that lead individuals to comtemplate suicide, particularly in relation to mental disorders. She decided to join the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at KAIST with the intention of contributing to the treatment of significant factors that lead to suicide, such as depression, and conducting research dedicated to suicide prevention. While it takes considerable time for an individual to reach the point of contemplating suicide, identifying the underlying causes and implementing effective prevention measures is uneasy. SeungYoon's ultimate goal is to conduct research that aims to prevent suicides caused by psychological factors and facilitate the recovery of mental well-being, enabling individuals to experiecne the joys of life once again.

• neuroscience
• cognition

She has dreamed on and on of becoming a person who could contribute to the development of society by exploring the brain, the unknown area. She majored in biological science and psychology at Chonnam National University and was able to study the brain from various perspectives. She also decided to grow into a scientist with an interdisciplinary approach while participating in the study of brain disease, brain engineering, and cognitive science through undergraduate research and internships. Recently, she is interested in how learning and memory occur in the brain and she will always do research in the spirit of trying to learn new things through a master's course in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at KAIST.

• neuropolitics
• political neuroscience
• political decision making
• political polarization
• political emotion

Hong Suk Oh mainly researches human decision making in political context. He is interested in revealing neural mechanism of political action, political emotions, and how people process political information. Before pursing graduate course, Hong Suk majored in political science and worked as a staff reporter at a media company. In future he hopes to mitigate social conflicts by providing scientifically grounded evidence and understanding.

Chanmee majored Biomedical Engineering. She studied various biomedical signals (e.g., EEG, MEG, EOG), considering them as an electrical signal. Besides, she has implemented measurement and analysis of biomedical signal. ‘User-customized Health Program’ was part of it. The Program recognizes 5 different workouts and adjusts session by current heart rate. From these experiences, she got interested in using biomedical signals in human research. She is especially interested in a positive feeling aroused from senses. Thus, she is going to study the feeling constructed from various sensory elements.

• Brain diseases
• Parkinson
• Dementia
• Addiction

1. Academic reasons or reasons for coming to the Department of Brain Cognitive Science.
During my studies in Health Psychology at University College London, I developed a strong interest in understanding the mechanisms behind various brain diseases such as dementia and addiction, and in finding fundamental solutions for their treatment
2. Current dissertation topic and brief contents
Currently, my research focuses on developing the optimal environment for culturing human-like brain cells in vitro, with the goal of using these cells to create innovative platforms for disease modeling and drug screening.
3. a future dream or vision
Ultimately, my aim is to develop a safe and effective personalized treatment platform for brain diseases that is accessible to a wide range of people

• iPSC
• AI
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• Perosnalised medicine

The brain, both mysterious and wondrous, presents inevitable impairments that we must conquer. Seung Ju's research focuses on enabling patient-specific, targeted treatments by identifying the subtypes of brain diseases.

• Computational Neuroscience
• Brain-Inspired AI
• Memory
• Emotion

During my master's degree, I directly examined the specific impact of prefrontal regulation on the recognition of facial emotions using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Our results showed that inhibition of the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) significantly enhanced individuals’ ability to regulate emotional biases when recognizing ambiguous facial expressions. However, I envisioned that if we could regulate cognitive functions through learning based on computational models rather than direct brain stimulation, this could not only revolutionize future cognitive behavioral therapies but also open up possibilities for various engineering applications.
Moving forward, I aim to contribute to advancing the field of psychiatry by understanding the mechanisms of the human brain and developing AI models based on computational models to regulate cognitive functions at the behavioral level. This could provide engineering solutions for the future development of psychiatry and an enhancement in the quality of life. This approach is likely to be particularly beneficial for the diagnosis and treatment of conditions like Alzheimer's disease and other mental disorders. Additionally, its ease of application can significantly impact and ripple effect across various engineering domains such as human-robot interaction (HRI), smart education, and human resources (HR).

• Consciousness
• Sensation
• Perception
• Neural Network

Acheiving Bachelor’s Degree in Life science and Psychology in Korea University, I got interested in the way that our brain work. Major curiosity was on how brain process sensory information and let us have conscious experience about the information. To study about that, I joined Brain & Cognitive Science department. Collaborating with Center for Cognition and Sociality in Institute for Basic Science, I aim to conduct research on how brain is involved in people having consicous experience of external stimulus. Ultimate goal is to solve the Hard problem of Consciousness.

• Brain-inspired AI
• Model-based fMRI
• Computational neuroscience
• Memory

I majored in Chemistry and Brain Cognitive Sciences at Korea University. The main reason I decided to study the brain was because of a very vague idea: "Can we model the brain artificially?". This idea got me interested in neuroscience. In particular, I want to develop a model of artificial intelligence that has the same valuation and reward system as humans and has human-like behavior. To realize this, it is also essential to discover what the brain does through the process of proposing an appropriate model and comparing it to the brain. By approaching both the brain and artificial intelligence, I hope to understand the mechanisms of how the brain works and use them to conquer the things that current artificial intelligence cannot.

• Consciousness
• PCI
• Brain-body Interaction
• Interspecies

My personal academic interest in Neurocognitive Science started with a simple question 'What makes human human?' I studied brain and cognitive science and biology in my undergraduate and I enter KAIST with hopes of answering philosophical questions with scientific methods. I am now studying under Prof. Park and working on consciousness. I wish to be able to compare consciousness between various species, and is working on the project using methods like PCI that can measure consciousness quantatively.

• Rejuvenation
• Brain aging
• Neurodegenerative disorders
• Epigenetics

I majored in Sociology and Psychology at Korea University, dreaming of making a society where people can enjoy their lives. During my degree course, I realized that aging has a profound impact on individual cognitive functions and quality of life. Motivated by a desire to understand and address this issue more fundamentally, I pursued further studies in Brain and Cognitive Sciences. My goal is to identify the causes of aging in the brain, the core of human cognitive function, and explore ways to reprogram aging processes. Through this research, I aim to find solutions to aging-related issues such as neurodegenerative disorders. Ultimately, I hope to contribute to making a world where aging is not something to be feared.

• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Glia Cell
• Aging and Senescence
• Immunity

During my undergraduate studies in the Department of Life Sciences, I was most interested in neurological diseases, especially neurodegenerative diseases represented by Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. To understand the complex mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, I am conducting a degree program at Professor Kam's lab in the Department of Brain Cognitive Sciences with the aim of enhancing an overall understanding of neurodegenerative diseases using immunity and metabolism occurring inside or outside the brain, as well as nerve cells and glial cells in the brain. Currently, I am conducting research to uncover various causes, treatments, and mechanisms that are likely to lead to degenerative brain diseases, including research on the role of the peripheral immune system in the Parkinson's disease. Based on these studies, I want to 1. provide a higher-resolution understanding of the mechanisms of degenerative brain diseases 2. reduce the gap in understanding of diseases that seen on Bench-to-Bedside, 3. contribute to the treatment of degenerative brain diseases by establishing new drugs and patient-specific therapeutic platforms.

• CognitiveScience
• ExperienceDesign and the Brain
• Consciousness
• Experience

Yujin Lee, who majored in design during her undergraduate studies, developed an interest in visual expression and user experience. Subsequently, she discovered intersections between design and cognitive neuroscience. Intrigued by the allure of using neuroscience methods to observe and understand human behavior and thought, she joined the Brain and Cognitive sciences department at KAIST to delve deeper into the human experience. Currently pursuing her master's degree under Professor HyeongDong Park, her goal is to gain a greater understanding of humans through interdisciplinary research methods and contribute scientifically to the happier lives of individuals.

• personalized diagnosis
• degenerative disease
• Parkinson's disease
• Alzheimer's disease
• iPSC
• fibroblasts

While majoring in animal biotechnology and psychology, I became interested in various abnormal behaviors and brain diseases caused by cognitive errors. By conducting animal behavior experiments in the laboratory of learning and memory brain cognitive science, it provided an opportunity to gain understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms of memory and to gain important research experience in understanding degenerative brain diseases.

I aim to investigate the neurobiological causes of individual patients with degenerative brain disease through research using stem cells in BRL lab, and to suggest customized treatment for patients based on this.

• Traumatic brain injury
• wound healing
• Brain fibrosis
• Neural repair

I am currently conducting research with Professor Dae Soo Kim in the Behavioral Genetics Laboratory. I am focusing on exploring the intricate molecular mechanism of the wound-healing process after brain injuries and utilizing this knowledge to pioneer innovative treatment methods. Given the complexity and vulnerability of brain injuries, it has been a challenge in our society to develop effective treatments for them. Consequently, my research is dedicated to elucidating the progression mechanisms of wound healing in the brain, and it is expected to contribute to finding effective therapeutic targets for brain injury. Through this research, I hope to offer an opportunity to enhance the quality of life for patients afflicted by brain injuries and their families.

• NeuralCircuit
• Neurotransmitter
• Consciousness
• Attention
• Sleep

Understanding who we are is a desire shared by all brain researchers. I was no exception, and believed that understanding the nervous system that forms the minds of myself and others would allow me to better answer the most fundamental questions. To understand the complex nervous system, I thought a multidisciplinary approach was essential, so I decided to study in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at KAIST.
I am interested in elucidating the neural circuits and neurotransmitters involved in specific mental processes and behaviors of animals. In particular, I am interested in elucidating neural circuits involved in attention and sleep using animal models like mice.
Ultimately, I want to contribute to research that reveals how numerous neurons interact to control the decision-making of animals and how they create consciousness

• Sleep disorders
• Sleep homeostasis
• Neurotransmitters
• Stress
• Behavioral neuroscience

I believe that no matter how astonishing a phenomenon is, it must be accompanied by thorough analysis and rational interpretation to truly have meaning. I have always been fascinated by observable phenomena in humans, especially their behaviors. This led me to develop a dream of creating a well-constructed documentary(film) that explores specific human behaviors.

During my undergraduate studies, I majored in Media and Psychology, where I was introduced to the field of neuroscience. The idea that we can interpret our behaviors through the study of the brain intrigued me, which inspired me to further pursue this path.

At the KAIST Department of BCS, I will be conducting research with Professor Ja-Kyong Kim on the molecular basis of sleep regulation. My goal is to analyze the genes that control sleep patterns and better understand how external factors, such as stress, influence the quantity and quality of sleep on a molecular level. Through behavioral analysis, I also hope to uncover the relationship between cognitive functions and sleep, and contribute to the development of treatments for sleep disorders.

I’ve noticed that people's interest tends to focus more on "how to sleep better" rather than on the meaning or necessity of sleep itself. I hope that my research will provide a rational interpretation of sleep, encouraging people to actively seek out the deeper significance of sleep in their lives.

• Decision neuroscience
• Computational neuroscience
• Reinforcement learning
• Memory

Nayeong acquired her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Electrical Electronic Engineering in Yonsei University. Based on her interest in human cognitive function, she decided to study human intelligence with the aid of brain-inspired AI models. Now, she is an MS student in prof. Sangwan Lee’s Brain and Machine Intelligence Lab. Her research interest is in hippocampal memory-based inference guided by abstract knowledge.

• Consciousness
• AI
• Learning
• Intelligence
• Creativity

Seokjin Jeong has always been fascinated by the fact that people living in the same physical world experience and live in such different ways, as if they are living in different worlds. It seemed that people live in a worldview reflected through their own cognitive lens, and that stories and abstract concepts provide a strong force that drives them. Through psychology, Seokjin has explored how to bring the abstract concept of the human mind into measurable methods by contrasting the perceived world and the observed world. Through Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Seokjin aims to investigate how abstract concepts arise in the brain and how these abstract concepts interact within the brain. Since people's worldviews and psychological experiences are both emergent properties from electrical signals within the brain, Seokjin believes that through neurobiological research on the brain, it is possible to provide a physical explanation that penetrates human psychological experiences. Though researching people, Seokjin dreams of connecting the diverse perceived worlds of people and presenting a new understanding of humanity.

• Brain Computer Interface
• EEG
• Machine Learning
• Deep Learning

EEG based BCI system for recognition of stroke patient’s motor intention

• Optogenetics
• Movement Disorder
• Parkinson’s disease
• Behavioral test
• Neural Circuit

Brain has always intrigued me as a bridge of our body-material- and our soul-immaterial-, and at the same time the final frontier of the human body. I have graduated from Ewha Woman’s University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and Brain&Cognitive Sciences. Working in Professor Dae-Soo Kim's lab, my current research focuses on the mechanisms and therapy of Parkinson's disease. Based on bioenginerring tools including optogenetics, I study interactions between changes of brain in molecular-level and behavioral changes. My long-term objective is to make contributions to academy and society.

• iPSC
• AI
• neurodegenerative disease
• personalized treatment

I was impressed by the characteristics of the brain cognitive science department, where they study the brain using AI and students from various fields gather to investigate together for this purpose. Currently, I am interested in researching the mechanisms of substances in the brain, and I want it to lead to the development of brain disease treatment or artificial intelligence development technology.

• Decision Science
• Choice Architecture
• Behavioral Economics
• Neuroeconomics

HyungJin Cho aims to illuminate the psychological processes and neural mechanisms involved in decision-making. His research area covers decision science, choice architecture, behavioral economics, and neuroeconomics. He is particularly interested in understanding how social rewards differ from economic rewards.

• Glial cells
• Alzheimer's disease
• Aging
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• Neuroimmunology
• Drug development

I have a dream of overcoming the human challenge of brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases, and as the first step toward realizing this dream, I enrolled in the Department of Cognitive Science. During my undergraduate years, I conducted research on immuno-oncology. Later, while studying the brain, I learned that the brain also engages in active immune processes, which led me to set a goal of developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases based on immune mechanisms. I am currently researching the fundamental causes of neurodegenerative diseases by focusing on the interactions between various glial cells, including microglia. Additionally, I am highly interested in finding ways to support essential processes to develop drugs, such as drug delivery and neuroregeneration, through glial cells. Through my academic journey, I aim to uncover the causes of brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases, and ultimately, develop new drugs based on these findings to contribute to the betterment of human health.

• Computational neuroscience
• Brain-inspired AI
• Emergent property
• Pattern formation
• Evolutionary driving force

During his bachelors degree in the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST, Cheon studied the emergent properties of neural networks in the visual pathway, which exhibit a localized arrangement pattern. After entering the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, he aims to further expand his research to investigate the evolutionary emergence of structural symmetry and patterns in neural circuits and activities, as well as the emergent properties that arise from these structures. His long-term research goal is to comprehend the underlying principles of natural intelligence and utilize them to engineer machine intelligence.

• Alzheimer's disease
• Cognitive science
• Age & sensory-related Cognitive Research
• Behavior-Based Cognitive Research
• machine learning based brain network analysis

I graduated from the Department of Biological Sciences at KAIST and joined the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences to pursue research related to neurodegenerative diseases. I believe that neurodegenerative diseases, arising from the accumulation of complex issues, require integrated analysis for the development of prevention and treatment methods. To carry out such research, it is crucial to understand the brain in an integrated way, which is why I am conducting my research in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Currently, I use machine learning to classify subtypes of dementia. Moving forward, I plan to earn my degree through research that classifies individual characteristics of patients with neurodegenerative diseases and explores ways to inhibit disease progression through sensory and external stimuli. As life expectancy increases, I aspire to contribute to research that ensures mental health keeps pace, helping humanity to stay mentally healthy in the future.

• Memory
• Visual Perception
• Neuronal connectivity
• Neurotransmitter
• Biological approach
• Genetic analysis

Hoyong aims to understand brain network influencing cognition and decision at the level of neuronal connectivity and neurotransmission. Especially, he is interested in Memory and Visual perception. In those topics, his focus of study is which neurons or neurotransmitters have an influence on and how they connected and affect cognitive process. While at the department of brain and cognitive science, Hoyong hopes to deepen his understanding of how neuronal interaction makes high-level brain functions.

• Aging and Senescence
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• Cognitive and memory
• Molecular biology

From an early age, I have been intersted by the field of biology, which seeks to explain the various phenomena that occur within living organisms. During my undergraduate studies, I realized that aging, despite its variability in speed and duration, is an inevitable process. This led me to reflect on how to promote healthy aging. Additionally, I became increasingly interested in the brain, as I learned that complex human cognition, learning, and behavior can be explained through molecular mechanisms within the brain.
Building on this interest, I aim to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying cognition and memory formation, particularly those that have not yet been fully understood. By doing so, I hope to develop novel therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases that affect learning and cognitive functions, which is why I am applying to the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.
Currently, I am conducting research in Professor Kam's lab, focusing on the molecular mechanisms that could serve as the basis for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Throughout my graduate studies, I aim to deepen my knowledge of neuroscience and neurobiology, while developing the expertise needed to lead research in this field. Ultimately, I aspire to uncover new principles and biological phenomena that will provide innovative solutions to improve human health