Lab members
Feilong MaKnown as Ma Feilong in publicationsand Feeling in spell corrections…
Feilong began his academic career at Beijing Normal University, working with Prof. Jia Liu, where he developed his interest in individual differences and brain–behavior relationships. He completed his Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience at Dartmouth College under the supervision of Prof. James V. Haxby, focusing on individual differences in fine-grained brain functional architecture. He continued his research at Dartmouth as a Postdoctoral Fellow and later as a Research Assistant Professor. In 2025, Feilong joined the University of South Carolina, where he is expanding his research to the neural mechanisms of language abilities, aphasia, and other disorders.
Cheng Xiao
Postdoctoral Fellow
Cheng Xiao completed her Ph.D. in Linguistics at the University of South Carolina under the supervision of Drs. Jiang Liu and Rutvik Desai. Her doctoral dissertation examined how native and non-native speakers perceive and process emotional information conveyed through semantic and prosodic channels. In 2026, Cheng joined the Feilong Lab, where she uses computational methods and neuroimaging data to investigate individual differences in language processing and learning.
Ziyi “Zoe” Ding
Ph.D. Student
Ziyi Ding earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Psychology from East China Normal University, where she worked under the supervision of Prof. Qing Cai. Her previous research focused on the construction of large-scale psycholinguistic datasets and the development of game-like language tasks for children. Ziyi joined the Feilong Lab in Fall 2026, where she intends to improve language recovery and rehabilitation strategies for individuals with aphasia.
Jason Davis
Research Assistant
Jason earned his B.A. in Psychology and Cognitive Science from Dartmouth College in 2026. Before USC, he conducted undergraduate research with Viola Störmer and Tor Wager and then worked as a research assistant in Jim Haxby’s lab. Broadly, his research interests lie in multimodal perception and attention. More specifically, Jason seeks to investigate three main research questions: (1) how the mind represents and organizes information content, or various aspects of our subjective experience, (2) how content bubbles into conscious awareness, and (3) how such content arises from functional architecture at various scales. Jason seeks to pursue a career in cognitive neuroscience.
If he is not conducting research in the lab, he is likely either playing soccer, running, or cooking one of his signature bowls. If you stay on his good side, he’ll make you one for free…
Ian Attmore
Provost Undergraduate AI Fellow
Ian Attmore is a Provost Undergraduate AI Fellow at the University of South Carolina, where he is pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science with an AI concentration and a minor in Spanish, which he expects to earn in 2027. In 2026, he joined the Feilong Lab, where he is helping to develop a deep neural network for facial recognition and comparing its processes to brain function. Through this work, Ian is developing an interest in how artificial intelligence can be used to study brain function and better understand the human brain.