UCCS Human Neurophysiology Laboratory
	Director: Mike Kisley, Ph.D. Department of Psychology University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS)

Introduction We study how the person (and their brain) prioritizes sensory stimuli for processing. Because our brains have limited resources for processing stimuli in our immediate environment, we are endowed with the ability to select specific stimuli for further processing. This is the basis for attention allocation. Selection can be achieved by a top-down mechanism where an individual consciously determines to pay attention to a specific stimulus. For example, you are consciously focusing your visual attention towards the words on this webpage. Our attentional focus can also be drawn to previously non-attended stimuli that are likely to be important. For example, your attention would be drawn away from this page if you heard a loud, unexpected sound nearby. Because the latter form of attention regulation depends upon relatively low-level automatic processing of sensory stimuli, it has been termed bottom-up regulation. During the past few years our laboratory has become focused on studying age-related changes in both bottom-up and top-down stimulus prioritization processes. Most recently this has included investigations into the role that emotional factors play in stimulus prioritization in older adults. To study these phenomena our laboratory employs non-invasive electrophysiological measures of brain activity, often referred to as event-related brain potentials (ERPs), in addition to behavioral research methods. Current Laboratory Personnel Mike Kisley Lab Director and faculty member in the Psychology Department Contact Dr. Kisley by email Tara Noecker, Shannon Foster Doctoral Students Learn more about Doctoral program in Psychology John Chavis Masters Degree Student, Clinical Track Learn more about Masters program in Psychology Michelle Privratsky Undergraduate Honors Student Learn more about Honors program in Psychology David Callaway, Mindy Kasper Research Assistants Event Related Potentials (ERPs) Because of high temporal resolution and relative independence from overt behavioral responses, ERPs have been used in the investigation of brain processes that underlie perceptual processing and attention allocation. ERPs are scalp-recorded estimates of brain electrical activity in response to sensory stimulation. The ERP approach involves measuring the electrical activity of the brain via sensors placed on the head. Although functional imaging techniques (PET and fMRI for example) provide very useful information, electrophysiological methods like ERPs are currently the only widely available, routinely applied approach that can measure human brain activity in real time - that is, as it happens. Research Program Overview: Current Directions We employ both behavioral and neuroscience methodology to study the effect of age on stimulus-selection processes in the brain. This includes investigations of age-related changes in the efficiency with which the brain filters out irrelevant stimuli (e.g., Kisley et al., 2005). Older adults often complain of an increased tendency to have their attention distracted by irrelevant sounds (such as automatic appliances turning on and off). By assessing differences in ERP measures as a function of age, we can shed light on precisely which underlying processes are changing. For example, by measuring a battery of ERP components, we can determine whether the difficulties arise in low-level filtering processes or in higher functions such as selective attention. This information can help determine at which stage of information processing (and sometimes at which stage of brain processing), the problem could be and which treatments and/or coping strategies might be beneficial. We also investigate age-related changes in the negativity bias. This bias has historically been studied only in younger adults, and is characterized by a tendency to pay more attention to emotionally negative information at the expense of positive information. However, using an ERP measure of brain processing, we have recently demonstrated that the negative bias is eliminated in adults older than age 55 (Wood & Kisley, 2006; Kisley et al., 2007). A number of follow-up studies are currently being conducted in the lab to determine the potential significance of this finding. Recent & Representative Publications Kisley, M.A., Wood, S., & Burrows, C.L. (2007) Looking at the sunny side of life: Age-related change in an event-related potential measure of the negativity bias. Psychological Science 18: 838-843. Wood, S., & Kisley, M.A. (2006) The negativity bias is eliminated in older adults: Age-related reduction in event-related brain potentials associated with evaluative categorization. Psychology & Aging, 21: 815-820. Kisley, M.A., Davalos, D.B., Engleman, L.L., Guinther, P.M. & Davis, H.P. (2005) Age-related change in neural processing of time-dependent stimulus features. Cognitive Brain Research 25: 913-925. [Erratum in Brain Research 1082: 205] Kisley, M.A., Noecker, T.L. & Guinther, P.M. (2004) Comparison of sensory gating to mismatch negativity and self-reported perceptual phenomena in healthy adults. Psychophysiology, 41: 604-612. Citations to other publications can be seen on Dr. Kisley's vita.

This site is maintained by Michael Kisley at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs CO U.S.A. Updated 12/14/08