My research focuses on the cognitive neuroscience of emotional learning and memory. I am interested in using functional neuroimaging, evoked potential, and neuropsychological techniques to examine how emotional stimuli are linked to memory systems in the brain. Our initial studies have shown that the amygdala is a critical brain structure involved in mediating arousal effects on both implicit (conditioning) and explicit memory paradigms. Currently, I am extending this line of work to understand how the amygdala interacts with cortical brain regions during emotional memory tasks, and to distinguish between amygdala- and hippocampal-dependent forms of learning. Finally, I have begun to explore the relationship between emotion and attention using eye tracking measures in normal subjects and in patients with stroke or dementing disorders.
