About Publications

I am a cognitive scientist interested in human memory. Our memories don't just help us recollect the past; we also use memory to guide future behavior. The primary questions that drive my research are: How do we learn across memories to extract the generalizable, predictable aspects of experience? How do those learned regularities influence how we encode new experiences into memory?

I am also interested in the factors that govern what we learn and remember. For example, some of my work studies how acute stress alters the way we encode experiences into memory. In my postdoctoral work, I am also probing the role of sleep in helping to build up stable memories that serve future behavior and guide new learning. My work draws inspiration from computational models of human memory and uses a range of methods, including behavior, fMRI, and intracranial EEG to approach these questions.

I am currently a post doc in Anna Schapiro's lab at the University of Pennsylvania. I completed my graduate work with Nick Turk-Browne at Yale, where I also collaborated closely with Elizabeth Goldfarb. Before graduate school, I was an undergraduate and lab manager at New York University, where I worked with Lila Davachi and Sarah DuBrow on how we perceive and remember time.

Outside of research, I like to spend my time cooking, baking, or exploring Philadelphia. I also enjoy playing (and modifying) board games.

You can contact me at brynns@sas.upenn.edu. Feel free to also check out my CV or Google Scholar.