Manasi Jayakumar

(she/her/hers)

  • Assistant Professor of Psychology

Areas of Study

Education

  • BSE, biotechnology, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani - Dubai Campus, 2013
  • MS, applied cognition and neuroscience, University of Texas at Dallas, 2016
  • MA, psychology, Columbia University, 2020
  • MPhil, psychology, Columbia University, 2022
  • PhD, psychology, Columbia University, 2024

Biography

I am a cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist. I graduated with a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University. My dissertation research examined the impact of spontaneous attentional fluctuations on episodic memory. Broadly, I am interested in how our internal cognitive states during an experience can influence memory organization and retrieval, and how these processes differ between individuals. To address these questions, I use lab-based and online behavioral studies, eye-tracking, pupillometry, and computational modeling methods.

I have an undergraduate degree in biotechnology engineering, during which time I had a chance encounter with research on patient H.M. that ignited my curiosity about the cognitive neuroscience of memory. I then pursued a master’s degree in applied cognition and neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas, followed by a two-year stint as a lab manager and research coordinator at Stanford University, before pursuing my PhD.

ºauthor is/was an undergraduate research mentee.
⁺author is/was a post-baccalaureate research scholar.

  • Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Instructor, Columbia University, 2024
  • Teaching Scholar, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Columbia University, 2023-2024 
  • Graduate Student Travel Grant, Society for the Teaching of Psychology, 2023

Fall 2024

Introduction to Psychological Science — PSYC 100

Complex Cognition — PSYC 209

Teaching Assistant — PSYC 500

Practicum in Psychology — PSYC 501

Supervised Research in Psychology - Full — PSYC 510F

Supervised Research in Psychology - Half — PSYC 510H

Spring 2025

Introduction to Psychological Science — PSYC 100

Complex Cognition — PSYC 209

Teaching Assistant — PSYC 500

Practicum in Psychology — PSYC 501

Supervised Research in Psychology - Full — PSYC 510F

Supervised Research in Psychology - Half — PSYC 510H

Senior Portfolio — PSYC 599