Rate My Professor Derek Nee

Derek Nee is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Florida State University (FSU), serving as the Cognitive Psychology Area Director within the Department of Psychology. He is also an Associate Professor in the Program in Neuroscience and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Medicine. Nee obtained his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College, dual-majoring in computer science and cognitive science. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2008, followed by postdoctoral training at Indiana University and the University of California, Berkeley. He joined FSU in 2016 as an Assistant Professor to help establish human neuroscience studies at the institution.

Nee's research centers on the cognitive neuroscience of cognitive control and working memory. He employs functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), electroencephalography (EEG), and behavioral paradigms to elucidate neural mechanisms enabling prefrontal cortex organization to guide behavior via goals and contexts. His investigations model dynamic brain region interactions, including with subcortical structures like the hippocampus and ventral striatum, and use TMS for causal validation. Representative publications encompass 'Cingulo-opercular subnetworks motivate frontoparietal subnetworks during distinct cognitive control demands' (Journal of Neuroscience, 2023, with J.L. Wood), 'Integrative frontal-parietal dynamics supporting cognitive control' (eLife, 2021), 'Evidence for hierarchical cognitive control in the human cerebellum' (Current Biology, 2020, with A.M. D'Mello and J.D.E. Gabrieli), 'Frontal cortex and the hierarchical control of behavior' (Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2018, with D. Badre), and 'Hippocampal-targeted theta-burst stimulation enhances associative memory formation' (Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2018, with A. Tambini and M. D'Esposito). Nee was awarded the FSU Developing Scholar Award for 2022-2023 and principal investigator on NIH grant R01 MH121509. His publications have amassed over 8,000 citations, advancing understanding in cognitive neuroscience.