Ruth Propper

 My research program addresses the ways in which a variety of psychological processes are organized around different patterns of activity within and communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.  My research examines the neuropsychological foundations of a variety of different of psychological processes, including as episodic and semantic memory, sleep, and memory reconstruction.

I use a variety of different methods to examine how communication between the hemispheres organizes psychological processes.  For example, differences in handedness (e.g., right handed, left-handed, mixed handed) are related to differences in hemispheric organization.  By studying how people with different types of hand preferences do various types of cognitive tasks, we are able to assess how the role of different brain hemispheres in different types of psychological processes.   In addition, bilateral eye movements (moving the eyes back and forth horizontally) seems to increase the degree of communication between brain hemispheres.  As a result, by studying how performance in various tasks differs when bilateral eye movements are present versus when they are absent, we can learn about how inter-hemispheric communication affects performance in various sorts of cognitive activities.  Finally, it has long been known that the left half of the brain mediates the production of action and experience from the right side of the body and vice-versa.  As a result, using techniques that allow us to selectively expose the left or right hemispheres of the brain to different information, it is possible to learn about the different roles of the left and right hemisphere in various cognitive activities.

Publications

Propper R. E., Stickgold, R., Raeann, K.*, & Christman, S. D. (In press).  Is television traumatic? Dreams, stress, and media exposure in the aftermath of 9/11. Psychological Science.

Propper, R. E., Christman, S. D., & Phaneuf, K. A.* (2005) A mixed-handed advantage in episodicmemory: A possible role of interhemispheric interaction. Memory and Cognition, 33, 751-757.

Christman, S.D., Propper, R. E., & Dion, A.* (2004). Increased interhemispheric interaction is associated with decreased false memories in a verbal converging semantic associates paradigm. Brain and Cognition, 56, 313-319.

Propper, R. E. (2004). Handedness differences in self-assessment of sleep quantity: Non-right versus strong-right-handers. Sleep and Biological Rhythms, 2, 99-101.

Propper, R. E. & Christman, S. (2004). Mixed- versus strong right-handedness is associated with biases toward ‘remember’ versus ‘know’ judgments in recognition memory: Role of interhemispheric interaction, Memory, 12, 707-714.

Propper, R. E., Lawton, N.*, Przyborski, M.*, & Christman, S. D. (2004). An assessment of sleep architecture as a function of degree of handedness in college women using a home sleep monitor. Brain and Cognition, 54, 186-197.

Christman, S., Garvey, J., K., Propper, R.E., & Phaneuf, K. (2003).  Bilateral eye movements enhance the retrieval of episodic memories.  Neuropsychology, 17, 221-229.

Christman, S. D., & Propper, R. E. (2001). Superior episodic memory is associated with interhemispheric processing.  Neuropsychology, 15, 607-616.

Christman, S., Propper, R. E., & Brown, T. J. (2006).  Increased interhemispheric interaction is associated with earlier offset of childhood amnesia, Neuropsychology, 20, 336-245.

Stickgold, R., Scott, L., Malia, A., Fosse, R., Propper, R., & Hobson, A. J. (2001). Brain-mind states: I. Longitudinal field study of wake-sleep factors influencing mentation report length.  Sleep, 24,  171-179.

Propper, R. E., & Christman, S. (1999).  A Test of the HERA Model II: Objects as Stimuli. Brain and Cognition, 40, 227-229.

Allen, P. A., Kaufman, M., Smith, A. F., & Propper, R. E. (1998).  A molar entropy model of age differences in spatial memory.  Psychology and Aging, 3, 501-518.

Propper, R. E., Christman, S., & Tirre, W.  C.  (1998).  Effect of familial sinistrality on performance of episodic/explicit and semantic/implicit memory tasks.  Brain and Cognition, 37, 13-15.