Brandon Ally
Vanderbilt University, Neurology, Faculty Member
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Priming reflects an important means of learning that is mediated by implicit memory. Importantly, priming occurs for previously viewed objects (item-specific priming) and their category relatives (category-wide priming). Two distinct... more
Priming reflects an important means of learning that is mediated by implicit memory. Importantly, priming occurs for previously viewed objects (item-specific priming) and their category relatives (category-wide priming). Two distinct neural mechanisms are known to mediate priming, including the sharpening of a neural object representation and the retrieval of stimulus-response mappings. Here, we investigated whether the relationship between these neural mechanisms could help explain why item-specific priming generates faster responses than category-wide priming. Participants studied pictures of everyday objects, and then performed a difficult picture identification task while we recorded event-related potentials (ERP). The identification task gradually revealed random line segments of previously viewed items (Studied), category exemplars of previously viewed items (Exemplar), and items that were not previously viewed (Unstudied). Studied items were identified sooner than Unstudied i...
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A growing body of literature has investigated changes in eye movements as a result of Alzheimer's disease (AD). When compared to healthy, age-matched controls, patients display a number of remarkable alterations to oculomotor function... more
A growing body of literature has investigated changes in eye movements as a result of Alzheimer's disease (AD). When compared to healthy, age-matched controls, patients display a number of remarkable alterations to oculomotor function and viewing behavior. In this article, we review AD-related changes to fundamental eye movements, such as saccades and smooth pursuit motion, in addition to changes to eye movement patterns during more complex tasks like visual search and scene exploration. We discuss the cognitive mechanisms that underlie these changes and consider the clinical significance of eye movement behavior, with a focus on eye movements in mild cognitive impairment. We conclude with directions for future research.
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Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Our laboratory uses event-related EEG potentials (ERPs) to understand and support behavioral investigations of episodic memory in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease... more
Our laboratory uses event-related EEG potentials (ERPs) to understand and support behavioral investigations of episodic memory in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Whereas behavioral data inform us about the patients' performance, ERPs allow us to record discrete changes in brain activity. Further, ERPs can give us insight into the onset, duration, and interaction of independent cognitive processes associated with memory retrieval. In patient populations, these types of studies are used to examine which aspects of memory are impaired and which remain relatively intact compared to a control population. The methodology for collecting ERP data from a vulnerable patient population while these participants perform a recognition memory task is reviewed. This protocol includes participant preparation, quality assurance, data acquisition, and data analysis. In addition to basic setup and acquisition, we will also demonstrate localization techniques to obtain greater spatial resolution and source localization using high-density (128 channel) electrode arrays.
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Research Interests: Cognitive Science, Aging, Memory, Hippocampus, Humans, and 6 moreFemale, Male, Aged, Middle Aged, Memory Disorders, and Neurosciences
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Research Interests: Psychology, Neuropsychology, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Face recognition (Psychology), Memory, and 10 moreHumans, Female, Amnesia, Male, Young Adult, Aged, Middle Aged, Older Adult, Neurosciences, and Case Control Studies(Humans, Female, Amnesia, Male, Young Adult, Aged, Middle Aged, Older Adult, Neurosciences, and Case Control Studies)
(Humans, Female, Amnesia, Male, Young Adult, Aged, Middle Aged, Older Adult, Neurosciences, and Case Control Studies)
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Metamemory, Cognition, Metacognition, and 19 moreFace recognition (Psychology), Recognition memory, Memory, Problem Solving, Humans, Female, Male, Awareness, Decision making process, Middle Aged, Adult, Neuropsychologia, Reference Values, Neurosciences, Frontal Lobe, Brain Neoplasms, Choice Behavior, Case Control Studies, and Functional Laterality(Face recognition (Psychology), Recognition memory, Memory, Problem Solving, Humans, Female, Male, Awareness, Decision making process, Middle Aged, Adult, Neuropsychologia, Reference Values, Neurosciences, Frontal Lobe, Brain Neoplasms, Choice Behavior, Case Control Studies, and Functional Laterality)
(Face recognition (Psychology), Recognition memory, Memory, Problem Solving, Humans, Female, Male, Awareness, Decision making process, Middle Aged, Adult, Neuropsychologia, Reference Values, Neurosciences, Frontal Lobe, Brain Neoplasms, Choice Behavior, Case Control Studies, and Functional Laterality)
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Psychiatry, Mental Representation, Imagination, and 20 moreNeural Network, Autobiographical Memory, Protein Structure and Function, Brain Mapping, Humans, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Male, Names, Aged, Middle Aged, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Neuropsychologia, Medial Temporal Lobe, Reference Values, Core Network, Alzheimer Disease, Neurosciences, and Cognition disorders(Neural Network, Autobiographical Memory, Protein Structure and Function, Brain Mapping, Humans, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Male, Names, Aged, Middle Aged, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Neuropsychologia, Medial Temporal Lobe, Reference Values, Core Network, Alzheimer Disease, Neurosciences, and Cognition disorders)
(Neural Network, Autobiographical Memory, Protein Structure and Function, Brain Mapping, Humans, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Male, Names, Aged, Middle Aged, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Neuropsychologia, Medial Temporal Lobe, Reference Values, Core Network, Alzheimer Disease, Neurosciences, and Cognition disorders)
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Mnemonics, Psychoacoustics, Cognition, and 15 moreFace recognition (Psychology), Music Therapy, Episodic Memory, Learning, Strategy, Humans, Female, Male, Aged, Analysis of Variance, Neuropsychologia, Memory Disorders, Alzheimer Disease, Neurosciences, and Acoustic Stimulation
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Electroencephalography, Recognition memory, and 15 moreBrain Mapping, Independent Living, Humans, Female, Male, Reaction Time, Aged, Analysis of Variance, Neuropsychologia, High Density Concrete, Process Model, Visual Evoked Potentials, Neurosciences, Frontal Lobe, and Cognition disorders
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Confidence, Face recognition (Psychology), Agnosia, and 19 moreRecognition memory, Memory, Humans, Calibration, Female, Male, Awareness, Evaluation Model, Source Memory, Aged, Middle Aged, Self Concept, Neuropsychologia, Older Adult, Memory Disorders, Reference Values, Alzheimer Disease, Neurosciences, and Case Control Studies
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Visual perception, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Working Memory, and 19 moreFace recognition (Psychology), Recognition memory, Color Perception, Brain Mapping, Evoked Potentials, Humans, Judgment, Female, Male, Reaction Time, Parietal Cortex, Memory Retrieval, Adult, Parietal Lobe, Neuropsychologia, Age Factors, Older Adult, Neurosciences, and Brain Diseases
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Research Interests:
Research Interests: Cognitive Science, Neurology, Nonparametric Statistics, Electroencephalography, Brain, and 15 moreEvoked Potentials, Discriminant Analysis, Humans, Mutation, Female, Male, Young Adult, Clinical Sciences, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Time Factors, Presenilin-2, Memory Disorders, Alzheimer Disease, and Neurosciences
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Research Interests:
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Intellectual Disability, Autobiographical Memory, and 14 moreEpisodic Memory, Protein Structure and Function, Brain Mapping, Humans, Female, Male, Young Adult, Amygdala, Clinical Sciences, Longitudinal Studies, Adult, Core Network, Case Control Studies, and Magnetic resonance image
Research Interests: Engineering, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Aging, Memory, Brain, and 13 moreHumans, Female, Male, Physical sciences, Verbal behavior, Middle Aged, Adult, Reproducibility of Results, Sensitivity and Specificity, Memory Disorders, Blood Flow Velocity, Magnetic resonance angiography, and Cerebral Angiography
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Research Interests: Decision Making, Cognition, Face recognition (Psychology), Language, Recognition memory, and 15 moreImage, Strategy, Memory, Signal Detection Theory, Humans, Female, Male, Reaction Time, Word, Aged, Analysis of Variance, Cognitive behavioral, COgnitive and Behavioral Neurology Neuropsychology, Alzheimer Disease, and Response Bias
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Vocabulary, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Face recognition (Psychology), and 14 moreRecognition memory, Brain and Cognition, Humans, ROC Curve, Task Difficulty, Aged, Analysis of Variance, Drug Therapy, Psychological Models, Alzheimer Disease, Task Performance and Analysis, Behavioral Intervention, Neurosciences, and Cognition disorders
The purpose of this study was to examine whether acute relaxation training, conducted on two separate occasions, would be associated with reliable reductions in subjective and physiological indices of stress. Forty-six experimental... more
The purpose of this study was to examine whether acute relaxation training, conducted on two separate occasions, would be associated with reliable reductions in subjective and physiological indices of stress. Forty-six experimental subjects were led through Abbreviated Progressive Relaxation Training (APRT) exercises during two laboratory sessions spaced exactly 1 week apart. Fifteen control subjects experienced two laboratory sessions where they sat quietly for an equal amount of time. Results indicated that a brief relaxation exercise led to experimental subjects having significantly lower levels of post-intervention heart rate, state anxiety, perceived stress, and salivary cortisol than control subjects, as well as increased levels of self-report levels of relaxation. The results of this study may have implications for the use of relaxation training in enhancing immune function.
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Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research has shown that sensory gating is largely modualted by acetylcholine. Diminished levels of acetylcholine and sensory gating deficits have been reported in research involving... more
Research has shown that sensory gating is largely modualted by acetylcholine. Diminished levels of acetylcholine and sensory gating deficits have been reported in research involving Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. However, there has been little investigation into those with a family history (FH+) of AD. The rationale of this study was to determine whether sensory gating impairments could distinguish those with early AD from individuals with increased risk for the disease while replicating previous findings of gating abnormalities in AD patients. Using the paried-click paradigm, evoked potentials were recorded from 4 groups of 20 subjects per group (AD, older controls, FH+, FH-). The results showed that while the AD group demonstrated sensory gating abnormalities, the FH+ group did not when compared to their peers with no family history of the disease (FH-). These results are discussed in relation to previous findings reporting P300 abnormalities in the FH+ group.