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Diana Woodruff-Pak's Research interest*:
Neurobiology of learning and memory
Dr. Wooldruf-Pak’s laboratory at Temple University is called the Brain Imaging and Stereology
Laboratory. The major focus of her laboratory is on the neurobiology of learning and memory.
They carry out parallel studies in rabbits and humans primarily using the well-characterized
behavioral paradigm of eyeblink classical conditioning. How normal aging affects learning and
memory is a central feature of many of their investigations. They also test neurological
patients with lesions in the cerebellum, hippocampus, or basal ganglia as well as patients
with neurodegenerative diseases. Eyeblink conditioning differentiates patients with Alzheimer's
disease from their age-matched counterparts, and their recent data suggest that eyeblink
conditioning may have utility in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Before
declarative memory is impaired, individuals who later become demented perform poorly on
eyeblink conditioning.
Selected References*:
Boyko, O. B., & Lemieux, S. K. (2001). MRI-assessed volume of cerebellum correlates with
associative learning. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 76, 342-357.
Woodruff-Pak, D. S. & Lemieux, S. K. (2001). Memory and aging, neural basis of. In N. J.
Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.) International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral
Sciences. Oxford: Pergamon.
Woodruff-Pak, D. S. & Gould, T. J. (2002). Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors:
Involvement in Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. Behavioral and Cognitive
Neuroscience Reviews, 1, 5-20.
Woodruff-Pak, D. S., Green, J. T., Pak, J. T., Heifets, & Pak, M. H. (2002). The effect
of scopolamine in older rabbits tested in the 750 ms delay eyeblink classical conditioning
procedure. Integrative Physiological & Behavioral Science, 37, 103-113.
Woodruff-Pak, D. S. (2002). Preclinical experiments on cognition-enhancement in Alzheimer's
disease: Drugs affecting nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Drug Development Research,
56, 335-346.
Woodruff-Pak, D. S., Green, J. T., Pak, J. T., Shiotani, T., Watabe, S., & Tanaka, S. (2002).
The long-term effects of nefiracetam on learning in older rabbits. Behavioural Brain
Research, 136, 299-308.
Vogel, R. W., Ewers, M., Ross, C., Gould, T. J., & Woodruff-Pak, D. S. (2002). Age-related
impairment in the 250-millisecond delay eyeblink classical conditioning procedure in C57BL/6
mice. Learning & Memory, 9, 321-336.
Woodruff-Pak, D. S. (in press). Aging and memory in animals. In J. H. Byrne, H. Eichenbaum,
H. Roediger III, & Richard F. Thompson (Eds), Learning and Memory, 2nd Edition, New York:
Macmillan Reference USA.
