Dahlia Zaidel

Dahlia Zaidel serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she directs the Brain, Cognition, and Neuropsychology Lab from her office in the Life Sciences Building at 5817 Charles E Young Drive South.

Her research program centers on cognitive neuropsychology with dual emphases: (1) mapping functional localization and hemispheric specialization in the human brain, particularly through postmortem analysis of hippocampal morphology and cytoarchitecture; and (2) investigating the neurobiological foundations of aesthetics, including neural processing of beauty, facial symmetry perception, and conceptual organization within long-term semantic memory. Her interdisciplinary approach integrates neurology, biology, and experimental psychology to decode how neural structures underpin complex cognitive and perceptual phenomena.

As laboratory head, Dr. Zaidel leads investigations into the neural correlates of aesthetic experience and memory systems, maintaining an active research profile despite the adjunct appointment structure. Her work bridges clinical observation with experimental methodology to explore fundamental questions about brain asymmetry and its role in human cognition.