Andrew Engell joined the Kenyon faculty in 2013. His research program is motivated by his interest in how the brain gives rise to a vast repertoire of elaborate social and cognitive skills.
Engell is particularly interested in the seemingly effortless way that people identify and interpret non-verbal social information that is conveyed by facial expression, eye-gaze direction, facial identity, body posture and biological motion. To better understand how the brain generates these remarkable facilities, he has used a multimodal approach that includes functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), intracranial and scalp electroencephalography (EEG) and behavioral experiments.
Methods of human neuroscience is also an area of focus for Engell, as he finds the tools used to measure human brain activity inherently interesting. For example, he has explored the relationship between the hemodynamic signal (i.e., changes in how much oxygen is in the blood) measured by fMRI and local-field potentials…
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Andrew Engell joined the Kenyon faculty in 2013. His research program is motivated by his interest in how the brain gives rise to a vast repertoire of elaborate social and cognitive skills.
Engell is particularly interested in the seemingly effortless way that people identify and interpret non-verbal social information that is conveyed by facial expression, eye-gaze direction, facial identity, body posture and biological motion. To better understand how the brain generates these remarkable facilities, he has used a multimodal approach that includes functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), intracranial and scalp electroencephalography (EEG) and behavioral experiments.
Methods of human neuroscience is also an area of focus for Engell, as he finds the tools used to measure human brain activity inherently interesting. For example, he has explored the relationship between the hemodynamic signal (i.e., changes in how much oxygen is in the blood) measured by fMRI and local-field potentials (i.e., electrical signals produced by large groups of neurons) measured by EEG.
Dr. Engell completed his Ph.D. in Psychology and Neuroscience at Princeton University and his postdoctoral training in EEG at Yale University. His work has been supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship and a National Institute of Mental Health National Research Service Award.
Dr. Engell lives in the Gambier area with his wife, Dana, and their adopted dogs, Carol and Lieutenant Waffles.
Areas of Expertise
Cognitive and social neuroscience, perception of social agents, face processing, human neuroscience methods.
Education
2008 — Doctor of Philosophy from Princeton University
2005 — Master of Arts from Princeton University
2001 — Bachelor of Arts from The College of New Jersey
Courses Recently Taught
PSYC 100
Introduction to Psychology
PSYC 100
Psychology is the study of behavior and mental processes. In this introductory course, we will explore a variety of areas in which psychologists conduct research: the biological foundations of behavior, sensory and perceptual processes, cognition, learning and memory, developmental psychology, personality and social psychology, psychological disorders, and variability in behavior related to culture. This course is only open to first-year and sophomore students. This counts toward the foundations requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every semester.
PSYC 110
General Psychology
PSYC 110
Psychology is the study of behavior and mental processes. In this foundation course we will explore a variety of areas in which psychologists conduct research: the biological foundations of behavior, sensory and perceptual processes, cognition, learning and memory, developmental psychology, personality and social psychology, psychological disorders and variability in behavior related to culture. Students who have completed PSYC 100 cannot take this course. This counts toward the foundations requirement for the major. Prerequisite: junior standing. Generally offered every spring.
PSYC 210
Social Mind, Social Brain
PSYC 210
Humans are one of the very few "ultra-social" species on earth. Interacting with others is an integral part of being human. Not surprisingly then, our brains have evolved to be wired for sociality. We will explore how the brain supports complex social cognition and behavior such as understanding the minds of others, perception of faces and bodies, empathy and moral decision-making. We will also explore the need to belong and the biological nature of social pain. The course is meant to be accessible to all students with an interest in the relationship between the social mind and the social brain, regardless of prior knowledge about the biology of behavior. Students will be introduced to each topic primarily through books and essays written for non-experts. Prerequisite: PSYC 100 or 110 or AP score of 5.
PSYC 291
ST:Social Mind, Social Brain
PSYC 291
PSYC 310
Cognitive Neuroscience
PSYC 310
This course focuses on human brain systems that support sensory, motor, cognitive, social and affective phenomena. Early in the semester we will build a foundation of knowledge about brain anatomy and physiology, human sensory and motor systems and the methods used in cognitive neuroscience research. We will incorporate this knowledge into subsequent explorations of how the brain gives rise to complex phenomena such as attention, learning and memory, language, emotion and social cognition. The course aims to provide students with a greater understanding of, and appreciation for, the complex relationship between brain and mind, and how our understanding of this relationship is informed by cognitive neuroscience research. This counts toward the mind and brain requirement for the major. Prerequisite: PSYC 250 or NEUR 212. Generally offered every year.
PSYC 410
Advanced Research Methods in Human Neuroscience
PSYC 410
This course introduces students to the methods used in human neuroscience research. Several structural and functional techniques used to investigate the brain will be discussed. However, the course will primarily focus on the two most commonly used tools in cognitive neuroscience: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). We will take a detailed look at the physical phenomena that make MRI possible, as well as the neurophysiological properties that produce the signal measured by MRI. A similar in-depth approach will be used to understand the physical and physiological processes involved in EEG. The course trains students in the practical aspects of fMRI/EEG data acquisition and analysis. We will therefore dedicate a considerable amount of time to "hands-on" data analysis using several software packages that are commonly used in the field. This counts toward the advanced research requirement for the major. Prerequisite: PSYC 250 and 310 or NEUR 304, 305 or 307 or permission of instructor. Offered occasionally.
Academic & Scholarly Achievements
2018
Engell, A.D., Kim, N.Y., and McCarthy, G. (2018). Sensitivity to faces with typical and atypical face part configurations within regions of the face processing network: An fMRI study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 30, 963-972.
Mohr, S., Wang, A., and Engell, A.D. (2018). Early identity recognition of familiar faces is not dependent on holistic processing. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
2014
Engell A.D. and McCarthy G. (2014). Repetition suppression of face-selective evoked and induced EEG recorded from human cortex. Human Brain Mapping, 35, 4155-4162.
Engell A.D. and McCarthy G. (2014). Face, eye, and body selective responses in fusiform gyrus and adjacent cortex: an intracranial EEG study. frontiers in Human Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00642
2013
Engell A.D. and McCarthy G. (2013). fMRI activation by face and biological motion perception: Comparison of response maps and creation of probabilistic atlases. NeuroImage, 74, 140-151.
2012
Engell A.D., Huettel S., and McCarthy G. (2012). The fMRI BOLD signal tracks electrophysiological spectral perturbations, not event-related potentials. NeuroImage, 59, 2600-2606.
2011
Engell A.D. and McCarthy G. (2011). The relationship of gamma oscillations and face-specific ERPs recorded subdurally from occipitotemporal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 21, 1213-1221.
2010
Engell A.D., Todorov, A., and Haxby J.V. (2010). Common neural mechanisms for the evaluation of facial trustworthiness and emotional expressions as revealed by behavioral adaptation. Perception, 39, 931-41.
Engell, A.D. and McCarthy, G. (2010). Selective attention modulates face-specific induced gamma oscillations recorded from human fusiform gyrus. Journal of Neuroscience, 30, 8780-86.
Engell, A.D., Nummenmaa, L., Henson, R.A., Haxby, J.V. and Calder, A.J. (2010). Differential activation of frontoparietal attention networks by social and symbolic spatial cues. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 5, 432-440.
2007
Engell, A.D., Haxby, J.V., Todorov, A. (2007). Implicit trustworthiness decisions: Automatic coding of face properties in human amygdala. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19,1508-1519.
Engell, A.D. and Haxby, J.V. (2007). Facial expression and gaze-direction in human superior temporal sulcus. Neuropsychologia, 45, 3234-3241.