Janet M. Duchek, Ph.D.

DEPARTMENT OF Occupational Therapy
Keywords: cognition, dementia, aging, head injury, driving

Our research activities focus on understanding cognitive mechanisms that underlie performance of everyday activities in healthy aging, dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT), and head injury through the use of basic experimental tasks. Studies are being conducted to examine deficits in attentional control and how a frontal control system may modulate memory deficits in aging and DAT. These studies have implications for functional limitations and the enhancement of performance. For example, we have been interested in identifying those aspects of attentional processing via different experimental tasks that may be predictive of driving ability. Through this work, we have identified the mechanism of selective attention as a strong predictor of actual driving performance in early DAT. By clearly understanding those aspects of attentional processing that predict driving performance, we hope to develop better screening methods to identify older drivers at risk and to provide potential intervention programs that could prolong safe driving habits in older adults, when appropriate. We are also conducting memory-training studies that are exploring ways to "shape" memory processes and the types of retrieval strategies and practice that lead to better memory in aging and early-stage DAT.