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University of Arizona Department of Psychology
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CURRENT RESEARCH
Psychophysiology of Emotion in Alzheimer's Disease Drs. Burton and Kaszniak are investigating emotion processing in individuals with Alzheimer's disease via the measurement of psychophysiologic variables while subjects view emotionally salient images. The variables of interest include self-report of emotional experience, facial electromyographic recordings of the corrugator and zygomatic facial muscles, startle reflex modulation, and skin conductance response. This project is active and currently recruiting participants who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Chronometry of Emotion-Modulated Startle Reflex in Healthy Aging Dr. Burton, Dr. Kaszniak, and Marisa Menchola are examining the temporal characteristics of the emotion-modulated startle reflex in both healthy younger adults and in healthy older adults. Emotionally salient images are used as the emotion stimuli for this project. Data collection for this project is complete and it is now being prepared for publication.
Chronometry of Psychophysiological Measures during Emotion Regulation Marisa Menchola, Dr. Kaszniak, and Dr. Burton, in collaboration with Dr. Nielsen, are examining the affective chronometry of the habitual use and voluntary manipulation of emotion regulation strategies. Participants are selected based on individual differences of interest (e.g., individuals who habitually engage on different emotion regulation strategies, long-term meditators, etc). Physiological measures (including facial electromyography, startle reflex and post-auricular muscle modulation, heart rate, and skin conductance response) are recorded while participants engage in emotion regulation tasks.
Effects of Awareness and Mental Control Strategies on Learning and Memory Colleen Ray and Dr. Kaszniak are interested in the impact that intentional efforts to influence previous learning have on later memory performance. What impact does employing strategies to forget an event (suppression) have on later memory performance? What impact do attempts to influence our emotional reaction to a past event (emotion regulation) have on later exposure to the event? They are presently pursing these research questions. If you would like to be involved in this work, please email Colleen Ray: caray@u.arizona.edu.
Investigations of Neural Responses to Emotional Images Presented for Brief Durations Kateri McRae, Dr. Lane, and collaborators utilize functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to illuminate the brain structures engaged in the transition from lesser to greater awareness of emotional stimuli, in addition to the relations between individual difference measures (such as the Level of Emotional Awareness Scale) and the detection of emotional stimuli at these brief exposure durations. They are also interested in the response of subcortical structures to those emotional pictures that are "biological" in nature (e.g., snakes, spiders, etc.) and those that have gained their emotional significance more recently in evolutionary history (e.g., guns, socially-relevant emotional cues).
PET and Emotion Kateri McRae, Dr. Lane, and collaborators use positron emission tomography (PET) to dissociate the dimensions of valence and arousal and how they relate to functional neuroanatomy, various psychophysiological measures, self-reported emotional experience, and individual difference measures. In particular, these projects investigate sex differences in cerebral blood flow (CBF) during rest and while viewing emotional pictures. The functional and effective connectivities between regions are explored using structural equation modeling.
Neuropsychological Aspects of Aging Drs. Kaszniak, Glisky, and Ryan collaborate in research focusing on age-related changes in explicit and implicit memory, and on metamemory (self-awareness of one's own memory functioning and abilities), particularly in relation to differential contributions of frontal-subcortical vs. hippocampal system functioning. Additionally, Dr. Kaszniak collaborates with Drs. Willis, Schaie, and Teri in the Seattle Longitudinal Study of Aging.
Neuropsychological Aspects of Alzheimer's Disease This research focuses on characterizing the nature of memory and metamemory impairments in Alzheimer's disease, upon neuroradiologic and electrophysiologic correlates of these impairments, and upon the clinical assessment and management of dementing illness.
Evaluation of Educational Material on Alzheimer's Disease Marisa Menchola and Dr. Kaszniak developed English and Spanish versions of educational booklets on Alzheimer's disease and memory problems in aging, as part of the Arizona Alzheimer's Disease Research Consortium outreach and educational efforts. They are currently conducting an evaluation of this material with English- and Spanish-speaking older adults in the Tucson community.
Neuropsychology of Self-Awareness Jasmeet Pannu, Emily Recknor, and Drs. Kaszniak, Rapcsak, Glisky and Ryan research the neural correlates of metamemory utilizing fMRI and lesion-based patient methods. These studies employ feeling-of-knowing, tip-of-the-tongue, and confidence judgment paradigms to examine the pattern of brain activation related to accurate self-awareness of memory in young and aging adults.
Neuropsychology of Higher-Order Visual Perception Jasmeet Pannu, Emily Recknor, and Drs. Rapcsak, Kaszniak, Glisky, and Ryan examine face and object processing in patients with frontal lobe damage and prosopagnosia. These studies highlight the contributions of frontal lobe and temporal lobe systems in the accurate recognition of complex stimuli.
For a list of recent publications from our lab, click here to go to Dr. Kaszniak's homepage, then scroll down to the "Selected Publications" section.
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| Neuropsychology, Emotion, and Memory Lab The University of Arizona Department of Psychology 1503 E. University Blvd. Tucson, AZ 85721 Phone: (520)621-4003 Fax:(520)621-9306
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