Ph.D. (Exp. Psychology) 1988, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Dr. Schwartz's group examines learning and memory in individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders. They are trying to understand how structural and functional disturbances in the brain disrupt the acquisition and retrieval of experienced events. To date, they have examined patients with schizophrenia, alcoholism, and Alzheimer's disease using experimental paradigms designed to assess specific memory and learning functions. The goals of this research are: 1) to specify which memory mechanisms are impaired in these patients and which are preserved; and 2) to identify the neural systems that underlie different memory functions.
Dr. Schwartz is also exploring the effects of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type glutamate agonists on memory performance in healthy adults and patients with Alzheimer's disease. A variety of experimental paradigms are used to determine what memory and learning functions might be enhanced with this class of drugs. Her goal is to understand the cognitive mechanism that mediates positive drug effects in age-related memory disorders.