Current Projects
Canine NeuroImaging
While we've traditionally studied pigeons and people, the Katz lab is now getting to know man's best friend! At the MRI Research Center, we are beginning to understand dogs' behavior on a neural level. Particular areas of interest are face and smell recognition and concept learning, as well as improving training procedures. Associated students: Lucia Lazarowski and Lily Strassberg
Canine Cognition
We have several ongoing projects with Auburn's Canine Performance Sciences program aimed at various aspects of canine cognition, including the development of cognitive abilities in different domains and olfactory working memory. Aside from better understanding these basic processes, we are also interested in the predictive value of these cognitive mechanisms in identifying suitable detection dogs. Associated students: Lucia Lazarowski and Sarah Krichbaum
Cross-Species Change Detection
Visual working memory has been widely studied in humans, but it's still a relatively unfamiliar area in animal research. Using a change detection procedure, our lab compares results across humans, pigeons, and nonhuman primates. Associated students: Andie Thompkins, Martha Forloines.
Past Projects
Collaboration with Fort Rucker
The Katz lab is currently working along side military personnel from Fort Rucker on a series of projects examining how combat exposure influences information processing. To do this, we use functional neuroimaging, cognitive batteries, and skin conductance measures. Associated students: Adam Goodman and Alex Daniel.
Human Concept Learning in fMRI
Our lab compares behavior across species -- we are currently conducting several studies that examine how humans learn abstract concepts, how nonhumans learn abstract concepts, how these processes are similar, and how they are different. Associated students: Adam Goodman.
Taste Short-Term Memory
We know a lot about memory (short-term and working) for words and pictures, but what about other senses? We're beginning to explore the sense of gustation: are our memories for tastes qualitatively different from our memories for visual or auditory events? Associated students: Alex Daniel.