James W. Pennebaker, Chairman | SEA 4.212 | The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX 78712 | 512-471-1157

Home | About Us | Contact Us | Search UT | Seay Building Info | Alumni

Faculty Directory

Faculty & TA Office Hours

Books by Faculty

Area Chairs and Faculty

Faculty Labs & Affiliated Organizations

David Schnyer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Email: schnyer@psy.utexas.edu Phone: 475-8499 Office: SEA 5.246 Lab: SEA 3.312 Imaging Research Center See also Cognition, Clinical

My research is focused on understanding the functional and neural basis of two dimensions of memory functioning that lie at the opposite ends of the awareness spectrum. The first is implicit memory, or alterations in behavior that are not dependent on explicit awareness of a prior processing event. The second is metamemory: specifically, what is the basis for self-reflective evaluations of memory performance and how do these evaluations guide efforts at memory retrieval. The basic approach I have employed within each of these areas is to test well founded cognitive theories using several complimentary research methodologies including, (a) task dissociations in neurologically damaged patients and healthy controls, (b) human electro and magneto encephalograhic recordings (EEG and MEG), (c) functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), and (d) the multimodal integration of fMRI and MEG.

Selected Publications

Giovanello, K.S., Schnyer, D.M., & Verfaellie (accepted). Distinct hippocampal regions make unique contributions to relational memory, Hippocampus.

Ghuman, A.S., Bar, M., Dobbins, I.G., & Schnyer, D.M. (2008). The Effects of Priming on Frontal-Temporal Communication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 24, pp. 8405– 8409.

Schnyer, D.M., Zeithamova, D. & Williams, T. (in press). Decision Making Under Conditions of Sleep Deprivation: Cognitive and Neural Consequences. Proceedings Sustaining Performance Under Stress Symposium, Military Psychology.

Kan, I.P., Giovanello, K.S., Schnyer, D.M., Makris, N., Verfaellie, M. (2007). Role of the medial temporal lobes in relational memory: Neuropsychological evidence from a cued recognition paradigm. Neuropsychologia. 45(11), 2589-97.

Eddy, M., Schnyer, D.M., Schmidt, A., & Holcomb, P. (2007). Spatial Dynamics of Masked Picture Repetition Effects. NeuroImage, 34(4), 1723-1732.

Schnyer, D. M., Dobbins, I. G., Nicholls, L., Verfaellie, M., & Schacter, D. L. (2007). Item to decision mapping in rapid response learning. Memory and Cognition. 11, 1472-1482.

Ryan, L.T., & Schnyer, D.M. (2007). Regional specificity of format specific priming effects in a word reading task using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Cerebral Cortex. 17(4), 982-992.