Lab Members

The primary goal of Dr. Kao’s research is to better understand the influence of health behavior and its associated biobehavioral correlates on human cognition and brain health. He is particularly interested in the acute and chronic effects of physical activity on behavioral and neuroelectric outcomes related to cognitive function during childhood and early adulthood. His research focuses include (1) the associations of different aspects of physical fitness (e.g., cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness) and motor competence with higher-order cognition such as executive function and memory, (2) the role of exercise parameters (e.g., mode, intensity, timing) on the relationship between exercise and cognitive function, (3) the development of physical activity interventions that can be implemented and integrated into real-world settings (e.g. school, workplace) for facilitating attention, learning, work productivity, and brain health.

Kyoungmin Noh

Kyoungmin graduated from Korea University with his Bachelor's degree in  Electronic Engineering and Physical Education in 2017. He then completed his Master's Degree in exercise physiology at Seoul National University in 2019. After graduation, he was a researcher at Seoul National University Hospital in the Radiology department.  In the fall of 2022, he began studying at Purdue as a doctoral student. The effect of HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) on cognitive function including memory, attention, and executive function is his main interest. For his research, he plans to implement many enjoyable sports for people to improve their brain health.

Salim Ibrahim Onbasi

Salim Ibrahim completed his bachelor's degree in Physical Education and Sports Teacher at Sakarya University in 2019. After graduation, he got a position as a research assistant at Yozgat Bozok University during his graduate education in 2020. In the same year, he won a distinguished scholarship supported by the Turkish Government, which covers master's and doctoral education expenditures. In the summer of 2023, he began pursuing his studies at Purdue University as a master's student in The Department of Health and Kinesiology. The field he intends to study is mainly based on exercise psychology and aims to examine the cognitive aspect of exercise. Accordingly, he plans to explore the "Human Gear Train" process, which encompasses individual, exercise, and mental components. The area he would like to specialize in this process is executive functions including working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility by combining them with different kinds of exercise.

Manuela Cortes Ospina

Manuela grew up in Medellin, Colombia and completed her Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from EIA University. During her undergraduate studies she was involved in the research and design of a system to estimate wellbeing based on physiological signals. She started her doctoral studies at Purdue University the fall of 2023.

Chih-Chien "Daniel" Lin

His research area revolves around sports psychophysiology and cognitive neuroscience. I am particularly interested in exploring the relationship between human health behaviors and cognitive functions, with a focus on how physical activity can enhance cognitive development and slow down cognitive decline. To investigate the neural physiological changes in the brain, I utilize medical instruments such as Electroencephalography (EEG) and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). Through this interdisciplinary approach, I aim to shed light on the impact of exercise on cognitive abilities and brain health.