Dr. Amy Belfi, assistant professor of psychological science, and Ava Stroud, an undergraduate student in psychology at S&T, will present the psychology colloquium 3-4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, in Room 104 Centennial Hall. Their presentation is titled “Autobiographical Memory Across the Lifespan.”

The presentation summary is:

“With steady growth of the aging population and associated pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease, the need for understanding age-related changes in cognition is critical. One important aspect of cognition that declines as people age is the ability to recall vivid autobiographical memories. Music has been shown to be an effective cue for evoking vivid, specific, and highly emotional autobiographical memories. However, the mechanism underlying the effects of music on memory, as well as whether music confers a memory benefit superior to other sensory cues, is currently unknown. We will present a series of experiments investigating the relationship between music and autobiographical memory in healthy adults across the lifespan and in patients with neurological damage. This work aims to develop a mechanistic understanding of how music affects autobiographical memory, both in healthy and pathological aging.”