June 2026

Congratulations to Niayesh Allahdad on Defending Her Master's Thesis!

The Ekstrand Neuroimaging Lab congratulates Niayesh Allahdad on successfully defending her Master's thesis in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge.
Niayesh's research investigated neural synchrony between romantic couples and roommate dyads using EEG and phase lag index analysis while participants viewed emotionally evocative stimuli. Relationship type showed limited and inconsistent effects on synchrony, while relationship duration was positively associated with theta-band synchrony in both couples and roommates. The findings suggest that shared experience and social proximity, rather than relationship category alone, may better explain neural alignment during naturalistic emotional processing.
Congratulations, Niayesh! We look forward to seeing this work published.

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