The Sleep and Cognition (SaC) Lab is interested in understanding who we are as humans by investigating how we form memories. Memories are at the core of our histories, our perceptions, and our beliefs. By understanding how memories are formed, processed and retained, we can understand how they can be improved, as well as how memory abilities can falter due to aging or disease. We are specifically interested in translational research questions that lead to improving the lives of people with cognitive impairments. We utilize electroencephalography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electrical brain stimulation, pharmacology, psychophysics, and sleep, in collaboration with researchers from a wide range of disciplines including development, political science, memory, vision, sleep, computer modeling, and psychopharmacology.
Some of the experimental questions we are exploring include: What are the basic mechanisms of encoding, consolidation and retrieval? Why do some memories tend to become stronger after a period of sleep? What are the specific roles of individual sleep features in consolidation across a wide range of memory domains? What are the roles of individual neurotransmitters in the memory process? Can we enhance memory performance by improving sleep or with pharmacological intervention?
Undergraduate researchers in the SaC lab learn every aspect of experimental research in sleep and memory, including EEG methodology, cognitive testing, data analysis, working with human subjects and organizing databases. Â Visit our lab webpage and check the “Join Our Lab!” tab for an application.