Research
The primary research interest in the lab is the rehabilitation of prospective memory deficits in individuals with brain injury. In practice and in published studies, people with brain injury report that prospective memory deficits are the cognitive deficits that interfere the most with their daily lives. Prospective memory, or memory for intentions, is defined as the ability to plan and carry out a task in the future. For example, a prospective task would be remembering to stop at the store and buy milk on the way home. As such, successful prospective recall requires many underlying cognitive processes including time estimation, planning, task initiation, task execution, and retrospective recall of the task to be performed. My research has involved studies of prospective memory rehabilitation, as well as the examination of both the nature of prospective memory itself, and questions of treatment efficacy and generalization.
This presentation from the International Neuropsychological Society Conference describes our rehabilitation research
This presentation from the International Neuropsychological Society presents our research looking at the impact of domestic violence on brain and cognitive functioning
Listen to a podcast about my prospective memory research
My lab has also been involved in the Brain Alcohol Research in College Students (BARCS) study. This is a collaborative study with the Olin Neuropsychiatric Research Center and Central Connecticut State University that is funded by the National Institutes on Drug. The aims of the study are to understand the effects of college drinking on brain structure and function and to understand the antecedents of heavy drinking behavior.