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
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
Accepting Students?
Not currently accepting students
Curriculum Vitae
Short Bio
PhD Carnegie Mellon University 2006
MS Carnegie Mellon University 2003
BS Presbyterian College 2001
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.