Psychology Department -> People -> Faculty Directory ->
David Schnyer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Email: schnyer@psy.utexas.edu
Phone: 475-8499
Office: SEA 5.246
Lab: SEA 3.312
Schnyer Lab
Imaging Research Center
See also Cognition, Clinical
Much of human mental capacity is driven by our ability to monitor and then control our behavior. In the past, my research has explored metamemory- the monitoring and control processes that contribute to memory functioning. I focused this work primarily at the role of monitoring in memory functioning by examining the algorithms and functional neural anatomy that underlie this process. While metamemory work continues in my lab, more recently I have also begun to expand this work by looking at the function of cognitive control more generally – its role in memory and mood regulation, as well as genetic influences, individual differences and aging. In addition, we examine disruption to control systems due to fatigue or brain injury.
Across all this work, I primarily take a Cognitive Neuroscience approach - testing 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 EEG/MEG.
Selected Publications
Maddox, W. T., Pacheco, J., Reeves, M., Zhu, B., & Schnyer, D. M. (2010). Rule-based and information-integration category learning in normal aging. Neuropsychologia, 48(10), 2998-3008.
Beevers, C, Clasen, P., Stice, E, & Schnyer, D.M. (2010). Depression Symptoms and Cognitive Control of Emotion Cues: An fMRI Study, Neuroscience, 167. 97-103
Beevers, C.G. & Schnyer, D.M. (2009). The Serotonin System and the Cognitive Control of Emotion: Associations with Depression Vulnerability. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 3. 248-249.
Pacheco, J., Beevers, C., Benavides, C., McGeary, J., Stice, E. and Schnyer, D.M. (2009). Frontal-Limbic White Matter Pathway Associations with the Serotonin Transporter Gene Promoter Region (5-HTTLPR) Polymorphism. Journal of Neuroscience, 29. 6229-6233.
Rocklage, M, Williams, V, Pacheco, J. & Schnyer, D.M. (2009). White matter differences predict cognitive vulnerability to sleep deprivation. Sleep. 32. 1100-1103.
Schnyer, D.M., Zeithamova, D. & Williams, T. (2009). Decision Making Under Conditions of Sleep Deprivation: Cognitive and Neural Consequences. Military Psychology 21, 36-45.
Schnyer, D.M., Dobbins, I.G., Nicholls, L.D., & Verfaellie, M. (2006) Rapid response learning in amnesia: Delineating associative learning components in repetition priming. Neuropsychologia, 44, 140-149.
Schnyer, D.M., Nicholls, L.D., & Verfaellie, M. (2005). The role of VPMC in metamemorial judgments of content retrievability. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 17, 832-846
Dobbins, I.G., Schnyer, D.M., Verfaellie, M., & Schacter, D.L. (2004). Cortical activity reductions during repetition priming can result from rapid response learning. Nature, 428:6980, 316-319.
Schnyer, D.M., Verfaellie, M., Alexander, M.P., LaFleche, G., Nicholls, L., & Kaszniak, A.W. (2004). A Role for Right Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Accurate Feeling of Knowing Judgments: Evidence from Patients with Lesions to Frontal Cortex. Neuropsychologia, 42:7, 957-966.
