Peter Wais, Ph.D.

Address:
UCSF MC 2240
Mission Bay Campus
600 16th Street
San Francisco, CA  94158

e-mail:  peter.wais@ucsf.edu
lab:  415-476-2164
fax:  415-514-4451

Curriculum Vitae [PDF]

Biography:  Peter is a native Californian and completed his undergraduate degree in Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. After a long stint in industry (first basic steel, then pure chocolate), his curiosity turned him toward the study of longterm memory. Peter studied with Dr. John Gabrieli at Stanford University, where he about learned about functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), before pursuing his Ph.D. in Psychology under the mentorship of Dr. John Wixted and Dr. Larry Squire at the University of California, San Diego. His thesis examined the roles of medial temporal lobe structures (particularly the hippocampus) in recognition memory. Peter’s research interest is the cognitive neuroscience of declarative memory: specifically, the functional roles of the medial temporal lobes and the prefrontal cortex in the reconstruction of memory, and how affect modulates memory.

Research Description:  Under the mentorship of Dr. Adam Gazzaley, Peter is examining the role of selection processes engaged when we remember prior experiences. Dr. Gazzaley’s research suggests that cognitive control processes improve working memory performance through suppression and enhancement of representations supported by visual association cortex (VAC). This form of cognitive control, top-down modulation, may also serve an important role in the selection of goal-relevant associations during the reconstructive process that yields longterm memory. We suggest that these processes involve a network comprised of regions in the prefrontal cortex, the medial temporal lobes and the visual association cortex. Moreover, normal aging may be implicated in changes in the efficacy of these top-down modulation processes. Peter’s research examines the behavioral and neuroanatomical basis of top-down modulation in longterm memory with the different methodologies applied in the Gazzaley Laboratory (fMRI, rTMS and EEG).

Publications:

Wais, P. & Gazzaley, A. Cognitive control processes that select relevant information and filter visual distraction during retrieval of long-term memory: an fMRI-guided rTMS study. in preparation

Wais, P. & Gazzaley, A. The impact of auditory distraction on retrieval of visual memories. under review

Wais, P., Martin G. & Gazzaley, A. The impact of visual distraction on retrieval of long-term memory in older adults. under review

Wais, P., Rubens, M., Boccanfuso, J. & Gazzaley, A. (2010). Neural mechanisms underlying the impact of visual distraction on retrieval of long-term memory. Journal of Neuroscience, 30. 8541-8550. [PDF]

Wais, P. (2010). Hippocampal signals for strong memory when associative memory is available and when it is not. Hippocampus, doi:10.1002/hipo.20176 [PDF]

Mickes, L., Wais, P. & Wixted, J. (2010). Strong memories are not scalable. in revision

Wais, P., Squire, L. & Wixted, J. (2010). In search of recollection and familiarity signals in the hippocampus. The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22. 109-123 [PDF]

Mickes, L., Wais, P. & Wixted, J. (2009). Recollection is a continuous process: implications for dual process theories of recognition memory. Psychological Science, 20. 509-515. [PDF]

Wais, P. (2008). fMRI signals associated with memory strength in the medial temporal lobes: a meta-analysis. Neuropsychologia, 46. 3185-3196. [PDF]

Wais, P., Mickes, L., & Wixted, J. (2008). Remember/Know judgments probe degrees of recollection. The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20. 400-405. [PDF]

Mickes, L., Wixted, J. & Wais, P. (2007). A direct test of the unequal-variance signal-detection model of recognition memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14. 858-865. [PDF]

Wais, P., Wixted, J., Hopkins, R. & Squire, L. (2006). The hippocampus supports both the recollection and the familiarity components of recognition memory. Neuron, 49. 459-466. [PDF]

Anderson, A., Wais, P. & Gabrieli, J. (2006). Emotion enhances remembrance of neutral events past. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103. 1599-1604. [PDF]

Mather, M., Canli, T., English, T., Whitfield, S., Wais, P., Ochsner, K., Gabrieli, J. & Carstensen, L. (2004). Amygdala responses to emotionally valenced stimuli in older and younger adults. Psychological Science 15, 4. 259-263. [PDF]