Research in brain
information processing

Background

Our interests concern, first, understanding how the brain processes stimuli in the environment, and, second, how the brain makes sense of that information. In particular, we are looking at explicit and implicit memory and visual processing. We hope to understand many things about the brain:

• How does the brain relate incoming information to what each of us individually knows about the world?
• How does the brain process information in healthy people?
• What can be done to improve current diagnostic techniques and treatment for people with neurological disorders?

Why study information processing?

Brain information processing is important for many reasons:

• Information processing is how we make sense of the world.
• Examining and understanding how the brain works at a basic level is fundamental to understanding more complex aspects of brain functioning.
• Understanding how the brain processes information in healthy people can give insight into diagnoses and treatment for those with neurological disorders.

By studying information processing, we hope to accomplish two goals. First is gaining a greater understanding of how the brain works at a basic level. Second is to use this understanding to develop new tests for diagnosing neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease.

Our current research

The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Center for Visual Science at the University of Rochester is sponsoring our current research study on information processing. Our ERP (Event Related Potential) study examines brain activity in senior people. We are particularly interested in how the mind processes information and how aging affects such processing. To accomplish this, we invite both healthy elderly and those with neurological conditions to enroll in our research study.