Active Research

The  NeuroCognitive  Sciences Laboratory

Director: James E. Horton, Ph.D.

           Office:            131 Smiddy
           Phone:            328-0136
           e-mail:           Jim Horton
 

Electroencephalograph recordings (EEG)
Event-Related-Potentials (ERP)
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
MRI brain structure morphology 
..

Hypnotic Susceptibility
Attentional Processes
Pain Inhibition
Morphology and Volume of Brain Structures
Genetic Correlates of Hypnotizability
Lie Detection

One area of current collaborative research with colleagues at Virginia Tech and The University of Virginia  involves identifying the regions of cortex associated with pain perception and investigating individual differences in pain perception by analyzing electroencephalographic recordings and functional magnetic resonance images of individuals who are low or highly hypnotizable during the presentation of painful stimuli. 

Current research also involves investigating individual differences in the speed of neural processing and interhemispheric transfer speed with simple and complex cognitive tasks. 

Additionally, we are currently investigating individual and group differences in morphology and volume of brain structures involved in attentional and inhibitory processing that may be associated with hypnotic susceptibility. 

We are also involved in collaborative research with collegues at Virginia Tech and in Isreal investigating genetic correlates of hypnotic susceptibility.

Another area of ongoing research involves acquiring and analyzing electrocardiograph recordings of smokers to investigate the effect of smoking on the stability of the electrical activity of the heart. 

We are beginning a colloborative study involving behavioral and psychophysiological measures of the possible interactive effect of smoking and aging on the accuracy of time perception. 

Additional research with students include the impact of binaural beats on EEG activity, emotional studies, correlation of EEG and polygraph recordings with lie detection accuracy, memory deficits in individuals involved in contact sports, an international collaboration  investigating the differential brain structure morphology of individuals with low and high hypnotic susceptibility.

This page last updated: October 18, 2007
Maintained by: Dr. James E. Horton