Joaquin A. Anguera, Ph.D.  

Address:
UCSF MC 2240
Mission Bay – Genentech Hall Room N474
600 16th st.
San Francisco, CA 94158-2330

email: joaquin.anguera [at] ucsf.edu
lab: 415-476-2164

Curriculum Vitae: [PDF]

Biography:  

Joaquin grew up in San Diego, and in 2000 completed his undergraduate degree in Animal Physiology/Neuroscience at UCSD. While working on his Bachelor’s of Science and for some time after, he worked in a physical therapy clinic where the majority of the patients were older adults. At this clinic, there were some patients that made very little improvements, and it was not always clear why certain interventions worked better for some patients and not others. Intrigued by this, he decided to continue his education at California State University at Northridge where he completed a Master’s degree in Kinesiology in 2004. There he studies biomechanical aspects of walking and realized that he was interested in pursuing a career in academia. Eager to see how the weather might differ outside of southern California, Joaquin worked towards his PhD under the mentorship of Rachael Seidler in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan. His research examined how different cognitive processes contribute to motor learning in both young and older adults, primarily using fMRI and EEG methodologies to probe these questions. After graduating in the fall of 2008, Joaquin searched for a laboratory where he would gain more experience in the realm of cognitive aging…and came across the Gazzaley lab, where he started working in January of 2009.

Research Description: 

The overarching goal of Joaquin’s research in the lab is to study how aging affects different aspects of motor & sensory performance. Given that nearly all other experiment in the Gazzaley lab focuses on age-related changes in sensory suppression, the examination of motor-related deficits provides a unique characterization of the aging process. Using behavioral, EEG, and fMRI methodologies, Joaquin's research currently examines:

•  how age-related motor inhibition deficits map onto sensory inhibition declines

•  the neural basis of response inhibition after-effects in both young and older adults

•  declines in sensory suppression & visuomotor tracking across the adult lifespan using an action driving video game

•  how cognitive training on a visuomotor tracking & discrimination task can generalize to other cognitive processes in older adults

Funding:

Joaquin is currently supported by a UCSF Institutional Research and Career Development Award (IRACDA), and was previously funded by an NIH Minority Postdoctoral Supplement for Underrepresented Minorities.
 

Publications/Book Chapters/Review Articles:

Anguera, J.A., Bernard, J., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A., Jaeggi, S.M., Buschkuehl, M., Benson, B.L., Jennett, S.,Humfleet, J., Jonides, J., & Seidler, R.D. (2012). The effects of working memory resource depletion and training on sensorimotor adaptation. Behavioural Brain Research. Dec 6;228(1):107-115. [pdf].

Anguera, J.A. and Gazzaley, A. (epub 2011) Dissociation of motor and sensory inhibition processes in normal aging. Clinical Neurophysiology. [pdf]

Fling, B.W., Chapekis, M., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A., Anguera, J., Bo, J., Langan, J., Welsh, R.C., Seidler, R.D. (2011) Age differences in callosal contributions to processing speed and working memory. Neuropsychologia. Jul; 49(9): 2564-69. [link to pubmed]

Benson, B.L., Anguera, J.A., Seidler, R.D. (2011) An explicit strategy enhances motor performance but interferes with sensorimotor adaptation. J Neurophys. Jun; 105(6): 2843-51. [link to pubmed]

Anguera, J.A., Bo, J., Seidler, R.D. (2011) Aging effects on motor learning. Invited review chapter for Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. N. Seel, ed. Springer Publishing.

Anguera, J.A., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A., Willingham, D.T., and Seidler, R.D. (2011) Failure to engage spatial working memory contributes to age-related declines in visuomotor learning.  J Cog Neuroscience. Jan; 23(1): 11-25. [pdf]

Goble DJ, Anguera J.A. (2010). Plastic changes in hand proprioception following force-field motor learning. J Neurophys. Sep; 104(3): 1213-5. [link to pubmed]

Anguera, J.A., Reuter-Lorenz, P.A., Willingham, D.T., and Seidler, R.D. (2010). Contributions of spatial working memory to visuomotor learning.  J Cog Neuroscience. Sept. (9): 197-30. [link to pubmed]

Anguera, J.A., Seidler, R.D., & Gehring, W.J. (2009). Changes in performance monitoring duirng sensorimotor adaptation.  J Neurophys. Sept.; 102(3): 1868-79. [link to pubmed]

Anguera, J.A., Russell, C.A., Noll, D.C., & Seidler, R.D. (2007). Neural correlates associated with intermanual transfer of sensorimotor adaptation. Brain Research, 1185: 136-51. [pdf]

Seidler, R. D., Bangert, A. S., Anguera, J.A., & Walsh, C. M. Motor Performance, pp. 801 - 806. Invited review chapter for Encyclopedia on Aging. R. Schulz, L. Noelker, K. Rockwood, R. Sprott, eds. Springer Publishing, 2006.

Seidler, R. D., Bangert, A. S., Anguera, J.A., & Walsh, C. M. Motor Control, pp. 228-236. Encyclopedia of Gerontology (Second Edition): Age, Aging and the Aged. J. Birren, editor. Elsevier press, 2006.