Welcome
Welcome to Angela Gutchess' Aging, Culture and Cognition Laboratory at Brandeis University. Our research addresses the impact of healthy aging and cultural background on long-term memory and social cognition, using behavioral and functional MRI methods.
Interested in participating in our studies?
We are currently recruiting American individuals between the ages of 60-85 to participate in a paid fMRI research study. The study pays about $25/hr and requires about five (5) hours of participation. The hours are broken down in two (2) separate sessions. To determine if you are eligible, please fill out our two screening forms and our lab manager will get back to you.
We are currently recruiting East Asian individuals to participate in research studies for pay. Studies typically pay at a rate of $10-$15/hr. If you are interested in participating, please complete the survey and we will contact you to schedule for a study.
Lab News
Congratulations to Dr. Wanbing Zhang on succesfully defending her PhD dissertation! Wanbing's PhD studies had been investigating the effect of imagining loss of items on the memory performance of healthy older adults.
With summer coming to an end and the Fall semester about to start, we want to congratulate our undergraduate research assistants who diligently conducted summer research and presented posters of their projects at SciFest 2022. Congratulations to Chaomei Wang, Huilin Li, Taryn German (Hampton University), Rynn Parrack and Yannan Zhu on presenting your summer work!
As in-person conferences are resuming, many of ACC's lab members have had the chance to present their work in front of fellow researchers.
Isu Cho (postdoctoral fellow) and Wanbing Zhang (fifth-year PhD student) presented their research findings at the Cognitive Aging Conference in Atlanta, while Krystal Leger (fourth-year PhD student) presented a poster at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society in San Fransisco.
Dr. Gutchess has been elected as 2023 Chair of the Psychonomic Society Governing Board. The Psychonomic Society is a community of over 5,600 cognitive and experimental psychologists from more than 60 countries around the world. Read more on the society's announcement here.
Congratulations to our postdoctoral fellow Isu Cho on receiving the GSA Behavioral and Social Sciences Section Student Registration Award!
Congratulations to PhD student Ashley Gilliam! Over the summer, she received the Diversity Scholarship for the 2021 ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research at the University of Michigan. Through the ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) program, she received certification for Multilevel Models: Introduction and Application, Time Series Analysis I: Introduction, and Categorical Data Analysis.
Congratulations to graduating honors students Sarah Turk Karan and Wanchen Zhao! In addition, Wanchen received the department's Elliott Aronson award. Post-graduation, Sarah will be a research assistant at University of Denver and Wanchen will be a PhD student at Yale University.
Lab members attended the virtual International Cognitive Neuroscience Society conference co-organized by Dr. Gutchess, Dr. Goh, and Dr. Losin. Tong Lin, and Wanbing Zhang presented a thought-provoking poster and lightning talk, respectively.
Congratulations to Dr. John Ksander, PhD, on successfully defending his dissertation!
Congratulations to Jessie Chien and Ashley Gilliam for graduating with their master's! Congratulations to Zenith Rai, Yinan Liang and Sophie Needles for graduating with their bachelor's!
Lab members attended the Psychonomics Society annual meeting in Montreal, Canada. Dr. Gutchess gave a fascinating talk at the inaugural Culture and Cognition Pre-conference titled "Perceptual and Mnemonic Differences Across Cultures."
The National Institute on Aging has awarded Drs. Gutchess and Goh a grant to investigate the effects of aging on memory and decision making across cultures, using behavioral testing and fMRI data.
Dr. Gutchess was invited to speak at an expert meeting on Leveraging Rarely Investigated Populations for Research on Behavioral and Social Processes in an Aging Context. Dr. Gutchess spoke on a panel about cross-cultural differences in memory.
John Ksander's paper "Cultural Specialization of Visual Cortex" was accepted to Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. Congratulations, John!
Congratulations to Zenith Rai for receiving summer funding from the Provost's Undergraduate Research Fund to study cross-cultural differences in impressions and trustworthiness!
Congratulations to Dr. Laura Paige, PhD, for successfully defending her dissertation! Congratulations to Yuchen Song, Selen Amado, Grace Hoefs and Dana Zeng on graduating!
Books on Aging
A comprehensive overview of cognitive aging through the lens of a life course perspective, considering both behavioral and neural changes.
This handbook is a comprehensive overview of cognitive aging research and takes both behavioral and neural changes into consideration. Readers will learn about the fundamental principles that characterize a life course approach. Click here to purchase!
This book integrates a neuroscience approach to study aging. In addition to covering standard cognitive functions, it incorporates socioemotional abilities.
An introduction to how aging effects the brain, intended for audiences with some knowledge of psychology, aging, or neuroscience. Readers can find figures illustrating brain regions and discussions on memory, cognition, cognitive training, emotion, and social possesses. The main perspective of this book emphasizes the ways in which neuroscience methods have enhanced and developed how aging is understood. Click here to purchase!
Research in the News
What happens when older adults lie? A new study suggests that in as little as 45 minutes they can come to believe it's the truth.
Angela Gutchess and her colleagues published the research online in the journal Brain and Cognition.