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
Spring 2024: Office Hours
Tuesdays 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Fridays 11:00am to 12:30pm

Office Address
335 Williams Hall
Office Phone
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.

  • I plan to recruit a graduate student in the fall 2023 application pool.
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. (under review). Variation in encoding context benefits item memory.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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. PubMed PMID: 27867032; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5221767.
  • Diana, R.A. (2016). Parahippocampal cortex processes the nonspatial context of an event. Cerebral Cortex. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhw014. PubMed PMID: 26874181.
  • Wang. F. & Diana, R.A. (2016). Temporal context processing within hippocampal subfields. NeuroImage 134, 261–269. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.048. PubMed PMID: 27039142; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4912848.
  • 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. PubMed PMID: 23937182. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3939693.
  • 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. PubMed PMID: 19702458; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2862119.
  • 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. PubMed PMID: 18605864; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2605011.
  • 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. PubMed PMID: 18446830; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2398650.
  • 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. PubMed PMID: 17707683.
  • 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.