The Cognitive Ability & Plasticity Lab aims to advance our understanding of individual differences in cognitive abilities and how they change through experience.
How do people differ in their cognitive abilities?
Understanding cognitive individual differences across the adult lifespan is key to identifying meaningful targets for intervention. We focus especially on working memory, executive functions, and reasoning, given their central role in everyday cognition.
Most recent publication:
Measuring individual differences in the speed of attention using the distractor intrusion task
How does real-world experience relate to cognitive performance?
We examine how intensive, real-world experiences - such as videogaming and esports, music-making, or multilingual environments - are linked to cognitive performance, revealing how flexible and adaptable cognitive mechanisms can be.
Most recent publication:
How is musical expertise related to executive functions? A systematic review and meta-analysis
How can we boost cognitive performance?
By identifying the mechanisms and contextual factors that drive cognitive performance and change, we aim to design, implement, and evaluate short-term interventions with the potential to enhance cognitive performance across the adult lifespan.
Most recent publication:
TDCS over PPC or DLPFC does not improve visual working memory capacity