Rachel Denison

Rachel Denison is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Boston University. Her research focuses on understanding how the brain constructs perceptual experience through integrating visual perception, attention, and decision-making processes with a particular emphasis on temporal dynamics. She directs the Denison Lab, which combines behavioral measurements (psychophysics, eye tracking), neuroimaging (fMRI, EEG/MEG), and computational modeling to explore these mechanisms.

Dr. Denison holds a PhD from U.C. Berkeley and is affiliated with interdisciplinary programs including the Center for Systems Neuroscience and the Cognitive Neuroimaging Center. Her work addresses fundamental questions about perceptual processing, decision-making under uncertainty, and the neural basis of temporal attention.

Recent research highlights include studies on Bayesian decision-making in autism, temporal attention effects in fronto-cingulate cortex, and computational models of sensory evidence integration. The lab's methodologies emphasize cross-disciplinary approaches to bridge psychological theory and neurobiological mechanisms.

Lab members have received UROP awards for research in 2025, and Denison has presented in prominent venues like the Cognitive Neuroscience Society 'Rising Stars' session. Collaborations span visual neuroscience, cognitive modeling, and clinical applications of perceptual processes.