Professor David Donaldson

I am a cognitive neuroscientist working in the field of memory. I am director of the Psychological Imaging Laboratory at the University of Stirling, a brain imaging facility that hosts three 64-channel EEG recording suites. My research focuses on the use of Event-Related Potentials (averaged brain activity, derived from EEG) as a tool for investigating cognitive functions. My primary interest lies in human episodic memory (everyday memory for one’s own personal experience), investigating the functional and neural processes that allow episodic memory to operate (or not, as the case may be). I am also interested in the way in which, in normal function, episodic memory interacts with other forms of memory, particularly semantic memory (memory for knowledge and facts about the world) and implicit memory (unconscious memory that occurs without any awareness of remembering). More broadly I am also keen to collaborate with researchers interested in other cognitive abilities, such as cognitive control, attention and language, using my knowledge of neuroimaging methods to try and identify and dissociate the basic processes that support these complex cognitive abilities. Please see: www.pil.stir.ac.uk and www.researcherid.com/rid/A-5249-2009
Cognition, Neuroimaging, Memory
- MacKenzie, G. & Donaldson, D.I. (2009). Recollection is associated with different ERP old/new effects when names and faces are used as retrieval cues. Neuropsychologia, Vol 47: 2756-2765.
- Rhodes, S. & Donaldson, D.I. (2008) Electrophysiological evidence for the effect of interactive imagery on episodic memory: Encouraging familiarity for non-unitized stimuli during associative recognition. NeuroImage, Vol 39: 873-84. Greve, A., van Rossum, M., & Donaldson, D.I. (2007). Semantic and episodic memory systems interact through familiarity not recollection: Convergent behavioural and electrophysiological evidence. NeuroImage, Vol 34: 801-814.
Dr Edward Wilding, University of Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom
Dr Ines Jentzsch, University of St Andrews Scotland
Dr Martin Corley, University of Edinburgh Scotland
Dr Kevin Allan, University of Aberdeen Scotland
Dr Patrick Dolan, Drew University, USA International
Dr Mark Wheeler, University of Pittsburgh, USA International