Research Interests

My research focuses on elucidating the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support learning and memory in young and older adults. I employ both behavioral and neuroimaging methods, including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional MRI (fMRI) to explore the interaction of cognitive and neural processes involved in episodic memory. While my primary research investigates the neural correlates of item memory during both encoding and retrieval, my research also examines the neural processes associated with relational memory and false memory. With respect to cognitive aging, my research concentrates on the examination of age-related neural markers of cognitive decline, as well as mechanisms for neural compensation. Other lines of research include both implicit learning and genetic neuroimaging.

Representative Publications

Dennis, N.A., Browndyke, J.N., Stokes, J., Need, A., Burke, J.R., Welsh-Bohmer, K., & Cabeza, R. (in press). Temporal lobe functional activity and connectivity in young adult APOE e4 carriers. Alzheimer's & Dementia

Daselaar, S.M., Prince, S.E., Dennis, N.A., Hayes, S.M., Kim, H., & Cabeza, R. (2009). Posterior midline and ventral parietal activity is associated with retrieval success and encoding failure. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 3(13)

Dennis, N.A., Need, A.C., LaBar, K.S., Waters-Metenier, S, Cirulli, E.T., Kragel, J, Goldstein, D.B. & Cabeza, R. (2009). COMT Val108/158Met genotype affects neural but not cognitive processing in healthy individuals. Cerebral Cortex

Prince, S.E., Dennis, N.A., & Cabeza, R. (2009). Encoding and retrieving of faces and places: Distinguishing process- and stimulus-specific differences in brain activity.  Neuropsychologia. 47: 2282–2289

Davis, S.W., Dennis, N.A., Buchler, N., White, L.E., Madden, D.J., & Cabeza, R. (2009). Assessing the effects of aging on long white matter tracts using diffusion tensor tractography. NeuroImage. 46(2): 530-41

Dennis, N. A., Hayes, S. M., Prince, S. E., Madden, D. J., Huettel, S. A., & Cabeza, R. (2008). Effects of aging on the neural correlates of successful item and source memory encoding. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory & Cognition, 34(4), 791-808.

Dennis, N.A., Kim, H., & Cabeza, R. (2008). Age-related differences in brain activity during true and false memory retrieval. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(8), 1390-1402.              

Dennis, N.A., Kim, H., & Cabeza, R. (2007). Effects of aging on true and false memory formation: an fMRI study. Neuropsychologia, 45(14), 3157-3166.

Davis, S.W., Dennis, N.A., Daselaar, S.M., Fleck, M.S., & Cabeza, R. (2008). Que PASA? The posterior-anterior shift in aging. Cerebral Cortex, 18(5), 1201-1209.
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Dennis, N.A., Daselaar, S., & Cabeza, R. (2007). Effects of aging on transient and sustained successful memory encoding activity. Neurobiology of Aging, 28(11), 1749-1758.

Dennis, N.A., Howard, J.H., Jr., & Howard, D.V. (2006). Implicit sequence learning without motor sequencing in young and old adults. Experimental Brain Research, 175(1), 153-164.

Dennis, N.A., Howard, J.H., Jr., & Howard, D.V. (2003). Age deficits in learning sequences of spoken words. Journal of Gerontology B Psychological Sciences Social Science, 58(4), P224-227.