Barbara Knowlton

Barbara Knowlton is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), with affiliations to the Behavioral Neuroscience Division and the Brain Research Institute. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Stanford University, followed by postdoctoral work in Psychiatry at UC San Diego. Her research focuses on cognitive neuroscience, memory systems, learning mechanisms, and their implications in schizophrenia and aging.

Recent publications highlight her work on value-directed remembering, procedural learning, age-related memory differences, and neural correlates of decision-making. She employs advanced neuroimaging techniques (e.g., high-resolution fMRI, DTI) and neurostimulation (tDCS) to investigate memory encoding, reward processing, and brain connectivity. Key themes include the interaction between cognitive and emotional systems, habit formation, and interventions to enhance memory retention through targeted stimulation of prefrontal and medial temporal regions.

• Selected Research Grants:
  • 2022: NIH grant for "Causal Role of Prefrontal Cortex in Value-Directed Memory Encoding"
• Techniques:
  • High-resolution 7T fMRI
  • Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
• Collaborations:
  • Prof. Susan Bookheimer (UCLA)
  • Prof. Itzhak Fried (UCLA Neurosurgery)
  • Dr. Adam Ekstrom (UCLA)