Anna Christina Nobre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kia Nobre
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Nobre in 2022
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Anna Christina Nobre
22 February 1963 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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| Fields | Neuroscience |
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| Doctoral advisor | Gregory McCarthy |
Anna Christina Nobre, known as Kia Nobre (born in 1963), is a smart scientist from Brazil and Britain. She studies the brain and how we think, which is called cognitive neuroscience. She is a special professor at Yale University in the United States.
Professor Nobre is also an honorary member at the University of Oxford in England. This means she is highly respected there. She has won many important awards for her work. These include the Broadbent Prize for her research and the Lifetime Mentor Award for helping other scientists. She is also a member of several important science groups, like the British Academy and the National Academy of Sciences.
Contents
Understanding the Brain
What Kia Nobre's Lab Does
Kia Nobre leads a group of scientists called the Brain & Cognition Lab. They study how our brains choose what information is important. Imagine your brain getting lots of information from your eyes and ears. Her team wants to know how your brain decides what to pay attention to right now, and what to remember for later.
They also look at how these brain skills grow as people get older. They study what happens when these brain processes don't work well, like in some brain disorders.
How They Study the Brain
To understand the brain, Professor Nobre's team uses cool tools. They use:
- MEG and EEG: These machines measure the tiny electrical signals in your brain. It's like listening to your brain's thoughts.
- fMRI: This shows which parts of the brain are active when you're doing different things.
- Brain stimulation: This gently sends small electrical signals to the brain to see how it affects thinking.
- They also use fun methods like eye tracking (watching where your eyes look) and even virtual reality games to see how people react.
Big Discoveries
Professor Nobre and her team have made important discoveries. For example, they found specific brain areas that help us recognize words and faces. They also learned how our brain controls where we focus our attention in space.
One of their big achievements was starting the study of "temporal expectations." This means how our brain prepares for things to happen at certain times. They also showed how we can focus our attention on things we remember.
Kia Nobre's Journey
Early Life and Education
Kia Nobre grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. When she was a young child, she lived in New York City for two years while her dad studied there. She later moved to the United States for college.
She went to Williams College and studied neuroscience. Then, she earned her PhD from Yale University in 1993. Her research at Yale looked at how the brain handles language and attention. She was part of the first studies to use fMRI to explore how our brains think.
Career in Oxford and Yale
In 1994, Kia Nobre moved to Oxford, England. She was the first woman to be a science professor at New College, Oxford. She became a very important leader in brain research there. She directed the Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity (OHBA) for many years. She also led the Department of Experimental Psychology.
In 2023, Professor Nobre moved back to Yale University. Now, she leads the Centre of Neurocognition and Behavior at the Wu Tsai Institute. She helps manage a special facility called BrainWorks, which has advanced tools for studying the human brain. She also plans programs to share brain science knowledge with other fields and the public.
See also
In Spanish: Anna Christina Nobre para niños
