Prof. Dr. Mike Martin

 

Main Goals, Keywords

Neurophysiological correlates of age changes in prospective and retrospective memory processes, metamemory, learning, forgetting, and interactions of stress and cognitive processes in normal and pathological aging in old age.

Keywords: Aging, Alzheimer’s disease, neurodegeneration, cognitive decline, hippocampus, prenatal infection, inflammatory cytokines, cell death, proteasomal degradation

Group Members

1 professor, 2 senior research fellows, 2 postdoctoral fellows, 7 PhD students

Previous and Current Research

Prospective memory performance strongly relies on frontal brain structures to execute intended actions in the future. We examine the relation between behavioural data and neurophysiological measures of action intentions to better understand the relation between basic cognitive processes and their plasticity in old age and to improve differential diagnoses of executive function disorders in persons with dementia, depression, MCI, and Parkinson’s Disease.

Future Projects

We will continue our efforts to use neuroimaging and EEG procedures to examine neurophysiological correlates of action intentions, prospective memory processes, metamemory and learning processes in normal and pathological aging.

Techniques and Equipment

In cooperation, we use EEG and neuroimaging techniques in combination with behavioural data.

Selected Publications

• Blessing, A., Zoellig, J., Dammann, G., Martin, M. Implicit Learning of Affective Responses in Dementia Patients: A Face-Emotion-Association Paradigm. Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn. Jun 10:1-15 (2010).
  
• Braun, M., Scholz, U., Hornung, R., Martin, M. The burden of spousal caregiving: a preliminary psychometric evaluation of the German version of the Zarit burden interview. Aging Ment Health. Mar; 14(2): 159-67 (2010).
• Braun, M., Scholz, U., Bailey, B., Perren S, Hornung R, Martin M.Dementia caregiving in spousal relationships: a dyadic perspective. Aging Ment Health.May; 13(3): 426-36 (2009).

Selected Lectures, Seminars, Colloquia

• Clinical assessment of cognitive performance in old age
• Prospective memory development in old age
• Memory training approaches
• Gerontopsychology

Funding

Swiss National Science Foundation

URL

http://www.psychologie.uzh.ch/geronto