Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience at Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Anna Yam, B.A.
Research Assistant (2004-)

B.A. 2003, Human Development/Linguistics, University of California, San Diego, CA

I first became involved in cognitive neuroscience research as an undergraduate at UCSD. As a student intern at the Projects in Cognitive and Neural Development (PCND), I got my first hands-on experience assisting with Event Related Potential (ERP) studies of language processing in typically and atypically developing children. Following the completion of my undergraduate degrees, I became a full-time Research Assistant (RA) at PCND, working simultaneously with developmental populations and adults with Williams syndrome (WS). Shortly thereafter I transitioned to a full-time RA position at LCN, working exclusively with individuals with WS. At LCN, I am the onsite RA for Project II, Electrophysiological Characterization, and a RA for Project V, Neurocognitive Characterization of WS. My responsibilities include, but are not limited to, administration of ERP, Neuropsychological and Psychophysical testing, study design, data processing, and manuscript preparation. My current projects include ERP studies of low-level visual and face processing, ERP and Psychophysical studies of facial emotion processing as well as behavioral processing of emotional non-linguistic auditory cues.

Conference Presentations

Mills, D. L., Bellugi, U., Reiss, A. L., Rose, F. E., Searcy, Y. M., Eckert, M. A., Yam, A., Galaburda, A., & Korenberg, J. R. (2004, October). Genes, neural systems, and cognition: Insights from identical twins with Williams Syndrome [Abstract/Poster]. Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference, San Diego, CA

Yam, A., Mills, D. L., Lincoln, A., Rull, D., Reiss, A. L., Galaburda, A. M., Korenberg, J. R., & Bellugi, U. (2007, May). Contrasting ERP patterns linked to face processing and recognition in Williams syndrome and Autism [Abstract/Poster]. Cognitive Neuroscience Society Annual Conference, New York, NY.

Hill, K. J., Hwang, K., Ramsier, F., Reilly, J., Yam, A., Müller, R-A., (2007, submitted), An fMRI study of pseudo-word learning and recognition in children and adults. Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference, San Diego, CA

Järvinen-Pasley, A. M., Tsuchiya, N., Leonard, M. K., Yam, A., Hill, K. J., Galaburda, A., Mills,
D., Reiss, A., Korenberg, J. R., & Bellugi, U. (2007, submitted). Genes, neural systems and social behavior: Autonomic correlates of processing upright and inverted affective faces in Williams syndrome [Abstract]. Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference, San Diego, CA.

Mills, D. L., Yam, A., Hood, A., Sheenan, E., Galaburda, A., Reiss, A., Korenberg, J., Bellugi
U. (2007, submitted), Genes, neural systems, and social behavior: Neural activity to positive and negative emotional expressions in Williams syndrome. Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference, San Diego, CA.

Publications

Mills, D. L., Yam, A., Lincoln, A., Rull, D., Reiss, A. L., Galaburda, A. M., Bellugi, U. Korenberg, J. R. (2007, submitted). Autism and Williams syndrome: Contrasting patterns of social brain activity.





	Brain, Behavior, & Cognition Gene, Brain, & Cognition Social Cognition, Brain & Genes Cognitive Development Language Modality & Brain Selected Lab Publications Families & Participants Williams Syndrome Aphasia Developmental Delays Participate in our research		Anna Yam, B.A. Research Assistant (2004-) Email: yam@salk.edu B.A. 2003, Human Development/Linguistics, University of California, San Diego, CA I first became involved in cognitive neuroscience research as an undergraduate at UCSD. As a student intern at the Projects in Cognitive and Neural Development (PCND), I got my first hands-on experience assisting with Event Related Potential (ERP) studies of language processing in typically and atypically developing children. Following the completion of my undergraduate degrees, I became a full-time Research Assistant (RA) at PCND, working simultaneously with developmental populations and adults with Williams syndrome (WS). Shortly thereafter I transitioned to a full-time RA position at LCN, working exclusively with individuals with WS. At LCN, I am the onsite RA for Project II, Electrophysiological Characterization, and a RA for Project V, Neurocognitive Characterization of WS. My responsibilities include, but are not limited to, administration of ERP, Neuropsychological and Psychophysical testing, study design, data processing, and manuscript preparation. My current projects include ERP studies of low-level visual and face processing, ERP and Psychophysical studies of facial emotion processing as well as behavioral processing of emotional non-linguistic auditory cues. Conference Presentations Mills, D. L., Bellugi, U., Reiss, A. L., Rose, F. E., Searcy, Y. M., Eckert, M. A., Yam, A., Galaburda, A., & Korenberg, J. R. (2004, October). Genes, neural systems, and cognition: Insights from identical twins with Williams Syndrome [Abstract/Poster]. Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference, San Diego, CA Yam, A., Mills, D. L., Lincoln, A., Rull, D., Reiss, A. L., Galaburda, A. M., Korenberg, J. R., & Bellugi, U. (2007, May). Contrasting ERP patterns linked to face processing and recognition in Williams syndrome and Autism [Abstract/Poster]. Cognitive Neuroscience Society Annual Conference, New York, NY. Hill, K. J., Hwang, K., Ramsier, F., Reilly, J., Yam, A., Müller, R-A., (2007, submitted), An fMRI study of pseudo-word learning and recognition in children and adults. Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference, San Diego, CA Järvinen-Pasley, A. M., Tsuchiya, N., Leonard, M. K., Yam, A., Hill, K. J., Galaburda, A., Mills, D., Reiss, A., Korenberg, J. R., & Bellugi, U. (2007, submitted). Genes, neural systems and social behavior: Autonomic correlates of processing upright and inverted affective faces in Williams syndrome [Abstract]. Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference, San Diego, CA. Mills, D. L., Yam, A., Hood, A., Sheenan, E., Galaburda, A., Reiss, A., Korenberg, J., Bellugi U. (2007, submitted), Genes, neural systems, and social behavior: Neural activity to positive and negative emotional expressions in Williams syndrome. Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference, San Diego, CA. Publications Mills, D. L., Yam, A., Lincoln, A., Rull, D., Reiss, A. L., Galaburda, A. M., Bellugi, U. Korenberg, J. R. (2007, submitted). Autism and Williams syndrome: Contrasting patterns of social brain activity.