Psychology Department Adds Perception, Neuroimaging Researcher

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Nathan Parks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The department of psychological sciences in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences announced that Nathan A. Parks will join the department as an assistant professor this fall.

“Dr. Parks will make a wonderful addition to our already diverse faculty,” said Denise Beike professor of psychology and chair of the department. “His research on how people’s visual perceptions affect the way they process information will add a new dimension to the fascinating work going on in our department.”

Parks’ research concentrates on human vision, examining how the human brain processes and interprets visual information. To study the human visual system, he uses noninvasive neuroimaging methods (electroencephalography and optical imaging) and a magnetic brain stimulation technique (transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS). 

 “I’m very excited about coming to the University of Arkansas,” said Parks. “The psychology department is doing some excellent research. I am grateful to have such great colleagues and can’t wait to get started.”

Parks has published more than a dozen articles in scientific journals such as Cerebral Cortex, Neuroimage and Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. He belongs to several professional psychology and neuroscience organizations and regularly presents his research at national and international conferences.

Parks earned a bachelor of arts in cognitive science from the University of Virginia (2002). He holds a master of science in experimental psychology (2005) and a doctorate in cognition and brain science (2009) conferred by the Georgia Institute of Technology. Parks was awarded a competitive postdoctoral fellowship at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois where his research was funded for three years by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.