Assistant Professor Cindy Lustig
Area: Cognition & Perception
Research Interests: My research uses both behavioral testing and fMRI to understand how older adults—and their brains—respond to demands for controlled attention. Of particular interest are the different patterns of brain activation often shown by older adults compared to young adults, and whether they reflect attempts to compensate for age-related changes in brain structure and attentional control.
What has been your proudest moment?
I can’t think of one moment I would claim as THE proudest. However, I have
really enjoyed seeing some of the enthusiastic students/RAs who have worked with
me come into their own doing conference presentations of our work, moving on to
graduate school, and so on.
What has been your most
humbling experience?
A recently-diagnosed Alzheimer’s
participant grasped my hand and
said, “I know it won’t help me, but
I hope this helps someone else in
the future.” It really drove home the
generosity of these people at a very
difficult time in their lives.
What do you wish you had known
at the start of your career?
Ask me this one after tenure
review!
What is one thing that most
people don’t know about you?
Why would I tell you that
now? I guess I can tell you that I
drink chocolate milk everyday.
If you had to choose another
career, what would it be?
I’d definitely be a product
tester at Ghiradelli.
"Five Minutes With..." Features
Rob Sellers | Cathy Lord | Patti Reuter-Lorenz | Monique Ward
Chris Peterson | Bill McKeachie | Margaret Shih | Cindy Lustig
On Our Minds 2005 Homepage
