معرفی
Angela Gutchess is a Professor of Psychology at Brandeis University with appointments in Neuroscience and the Volen Center for Complex Systems. She directs the Aging, Culture and Cognition Laboratory, where she investigates how age and culture influence memory and social cognition using behavioral, neuroimaging (fMRI, EEG), and patient methods. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association.
Educational Background:
- B.A. in Psychology from Boston University
- M.A. in Psychology from University of Michigan
- Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Michigan
Dr. Gutchess's research focuses on understanding how aging affects memory specificity and neural mechanisms, with particular attention to how cultural background modulates these processes. Her work demonstrates that older adults can compensate for decreased medial temporal lobe activity by recruiting prefrontal regions during encoding, but show age-related differences during recognition tasks. She has pioneered research comparing cognitive and social processes across East Asian and Western cultures, revealing cultural differences in object processing and memory organization. Her cross-cultural work with aging populations has identified how life experiences and plasticity interact with neurobiological aging.
Analysis of Dr. Gutchess's recent publications reveals a strong focus on the intersection of culture, aging, and memory processes. Her work increasingly employs multimodal approaches combining behavioral testing with neuroimaging techniques to examine how acculturation affects cognitive strategies over time. A notable trend is her exploration of self-referencing mechanisms across cultures and how these change with age, with implications for understanding memory preservation in aging.
Scientific Awards and Honors:
- APA Division of Adult Development and Aging Award for Outstanding Doctoral Research (2004)
- APA Dissertation Research Award (2004)
- Association for Psychological Science Fellow (2019)
- Elected to Governing Board of Psychonomic Society (2019)
- Chair of Governing Board of Psychonomic Society (2023)
- Fulbright Scholar Award (2010-2011)
- Alzheimer's Association Research Grant (2014-2017)
Dr. Gutchess has successfully mentored numerous graduate students through completion of their PhDs and MA degrees, including Dr. Krystal Leger, Dr. Wanbing Zhang, and Dr. John Ksander. Her lab has received significant funding from the National Institute on Aging to investigate the effects of aging on memory and decision making across cultures. Current research projects examine how acculturation affects memory strategies longitudinally and are developing culturally-specific training paradigms for memory enhancement. Her lab also investigates how aging impacts the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood, with findings suggesting older adults may come to believe their own lies within 45 minutes.
The Aging, Culture and Cognition Laboratory at Brandeis University brings together a diverse team of researchers including PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and undergraduate research assistants. The lab is actively recruiting East Asian participants for studies on cultural influences on cognition and has established collaborations with researchers at Harvard University for fMRI studies. Dr. Gutchess also co-organizes the annual Culture and Cognition Pre-conference associated with the Psychonomic Society, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue in this growing field.
