Lab website: http://sun2.science.wayne.edu/~nal/
Research Interests
I am interested in cognitive and structural and functional brain changes associated with aging. My primary research interests are in the cognitive neuroscience of human spatial cognition and in human behavioral endocrinology. To that end, I have been developing and utilizing virtual reality technology to understand the behavioral and neural mechanisms of age-related decline in human spatial cognition. Recently I have been assessing age changes in navigation and in the ability to develop "cognitive maps" of a virtual environment. An important focus of this research is in understanding the neural mechanisms of human navigation by conducting functional MRI studies in which I examine brain activation patterns while participants solve virtual navigation tasks.
My other principal area of research is in human behavioral endocrinology. In men, testosterone levels decline over the lifespan and I have been investigating the cognitive and neurological sequelae of androgen (testosterone) loss in elderly men. My current interests are in conducting placebo-controlled testosterone intervention studies in elderly men to examine the cognitive and neural effects of testosterone supplementation.
Teaching
Undergraduate Courses:
Psychology 3080 - Cognitive Psychology
Recent Publications
Moffat, S.D., Metter, E.J., Blackman, M.R., Harman, S.M., & Resnick, S.M. (2002, in press). Longitudinal assessment of serum free testosterone predicts memory performance and cognitive status in elderly men. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Moffat, S.D. & Resnick, S.M. (2002, in press). Effects of age on virtual environment place navigation and allocentric cognitive mapping. Behavioral Neuroscience.
Berenbaum, S.A., Moffat, S.D., Wisniewski, A. & Resnick, S.M. (2002, in press). Neuroendocrinology: Cognitive Effects of Sex Hormones. To appear in de Haan, M. & Johnson, M. H. (eds.), The Cognitive Neuroscience of Development. Psychology Press.
Shen, D. Moffat, S.D., Resnick, S.M. & Davatzikos, C. (2001, in press). Measuring Size and Shape of the Hippocampus in MR Images Using a Deformable Shape Model. Neuroimage.
Moffat, S.D., Zonderman, A.B. & Resnick, S.M. (2001). Effects of age on spatial learning in a virtual reality navigation task. Neurobiology of Aging 22: 787-796.
Awards
1998-2002 National Institutes of Health, Visiting Fellowship, National Institute on Aging
1996-1997 Jack Catherall Scholarship, University of Western Ontario
1996-1997 Graduate Research Fellowship, University of Western Ontario
1996-1997 Special University Scholarship, University of Western Ontario
1995-1996 Ontario Graduate Scholarship, University of Western Ontario
1993-1995 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Post Graduate Scholarship, University of Western Ontario
1993-1995 Faculty of Graduate Studies Admission Scholarship, University of Western Ontario
1992-1993 Ontario Graduate Scholarship, University of Western Ontario
1991-1992 Special University Scholarship, University of Western Ontario
1989 John Pounder Prize in Astronomy, University of Toronto
Education
Ph.D. (1993-1998). University of Western Ontario. Psychobiology & Clinical Neuropsychology.
M.A. (1991-1993). University of Western Ontario. Psychobiology and Clinical Neuropsychology.
B.Sc. (1987-1991). University of Toronto. Psychology.
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