Rachel Diana

Profile picture for user rdiana
Faculty, Department of Psychology
Area Director, Cognitive Neuroscience & Biopsychology
Director, Measurement of Episodic Memory Lab
Affiliate Faculty, School of Neuroscience
EMail
rdiana@vt.edu
Zoom
https://virginiatech.zoom.us/my/rdiana
Office Hours
Office Hours for the end of Fall 2024 semester

Fri. 12/6, 1:15pm to 1:45pm (note shorter window than usual)
Mon. 12/9, 10:00am to noon (note longer window than usual)
Tues. 12/10, 3:15pm to 3:45pm, 3rd floor Hitt (note shorter window than usual)
Wed. 12/11, 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Thurs. 12/12, 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Fri. 12/13, 1:15pm to 2:15pm
Mon. 12/16, 10:00am to 11:00am
Tues. 12/17, 2:00pm to 3:00pm, in **WMS 335** (note time and location change for Tues.)
Wed. 12/18, noon to 2:00pm

Unless otherwise noted, all of these office hours will be held in Williams Hall 335
and on zoom: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/my/rdiana

Office Address
335 Williams Hall
Office Phone
540-231-1913
Other Address
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Accepting Students?
Not currently accepting students
Research Center/Lab
MEM Lab (Measurement of Episodic Memory)
Curriculum Vitae
cv_current_.pdf
Interests

My area of specialization is the psychology and cognitive neuroscience of human memory. I have conducted research into the retrieval processes operating in recognition memory using behavioral techniques, event-related potentials, and computational modeling to assess the predictions of single and dual-process models of recognition. I have extended this research into the study of the brain by developing and testing a model of medial temporal lobe function in episodic memory processing using ERP, fMRI, and patient approaches.

Recent Courses Taught
  • PSYC 2064 Introduction to the Neuroscience of Behavior
  • PSYC 4114 Cognitive Psychology
  • PSYC 5344 Cognitive Psychology (graduate level)
Select Publications
  • Salan, J., Smith, D.E., Shafer, E.S., & Diana, R.A. (2024). Variation in encoding context benefits item memory. Memory & Cognition, doi: 10.3758/s13421-024-01603-x
  • Lim, Y., Lang, D.J., & Diana, R.A. (2023). Cognitive tasks affect the relationship between representational pattern similarity and subsequent item memory in the hippocampus. NeuroImage, 277, doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120241
  • Tu, H.W. & Diana, R.A. (2021). The interaction of relational encoding and unitization: Effects on medial temporal lobe processing during retrieval. Behavioural Brain Research, 396, doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112878.
  • Diana, R. A., & Wang, F. (2018). Episodic Memory. In Wixted, J.T. (Series Ed.), Phelps, E. A. & Davachi, L. (Vol. Eds.), Stevens’ Handbook of Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience (Vol. 1, pp. 67–100). doi: 10.1002/9781119170174.epcn103
  • Hill, P.F., Yi, R., Spreng, R.N., & Diana, R.A. (2017). Neural congruence between intertemporal and interpersonal self-control: Evidence from delay and social discounting, NeuroImage, 162, 186-198.
  • Wang, F. & Diana, R.A. (2017). Temporal context in human fMRI. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 17, 57-64. doi: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.06.004
  • Tu, H-W., Alty, E.E., & Diana, R.A. (2017). Event-related Potentials during Encoding: Comparing Unitization to Relational Processing, Brain Research, 1667, 46-54. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2017.05.003.
  • O’Neill, M. & Diana, R.A. (2017). The neurocognitive basis of borrowed context information. Cortex.doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.01.014.
  • Wang, F. & Diana, R.A. (2017). Neural correlates of temporal context retrieval for abstract scrambled phrases: Reducing narrative and familiarity-based strategies. Brain Research, 1655, 128-137. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2016.11.017
  • Diana, R.A. (2016). Parahippocampal cortex processes the nonspatial context of an event. Cerebral Cortex. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhw014.
  • Wang. F. & Diana, R.A. (2016). Temporal context processing within hippocampal subfields. NeuroImage 134, 261–269. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.048.
  • Diana, R.A., Yonelinas, A.P., Ranganath, C. (2013). Parahippocampal cortex activation during context reinstatement predicts item recollection. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142, 1287-97. doi: 10.1037/a0034029.
  • Diana, R.A., Yonelinas, A.P., & Ranganath, C. (2010). Medial temporal lobe activity during source retrieval reflects information type, not memory strength. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 1808-18. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21335.
  • Diana, R.A., Yonelinas, A.P., & Ranganath, C. (2008). The effects of unitization on familiarity-based source memory: Testing a behavioral prediction derived from neuroimaging data. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 34, 730-740. doi: 10.1037/0278-7393.34.4.730.
  • Diana, R.A., Yonelinas, A.P., & Ranganath, C. (2008). High-resolution multi-voxel pattern analysis of category selectivity in the medial temporal lobes. Hippocampus, 18, 536-541. doi: 10.1002/hipo.20433.
  • Diana, R.A., Yonelinas, A.P., & Ranganath, C. (2007). Imaging recollection and familiarity in the medial temporal lobe: A three-component model. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 379-386. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2007.08.001.
  • Diana, R.A., Reder, L.M., Arndt, J., & Park, H. (2006). Models of recognition: A review of arguments in favor of a dual-process account. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 1-21. PubMed PMID: 16724763; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2387212.
Degrees
  • PhD Carnegie Mellon University 2006
  • MS Carnegie Mellon University 2003
  • BS Presbyterian College 2001