Research: The primary question of interest in much of my work concerns how information about spatial layout is acquired and represented in the brain. In particular, I am interested in how differences in spatial experiences affect the representation of spatial information.

Much of the evidence to date suggests that what is represented in the brain is a function of what type of spatial information was available during learning and what the observer was required to do with the information. Moreover, the observable behavior depends on how the observer is later tested on the spatial information. In its simplest form, this approach suggests a type of encoding-specificity, in which the representation of spatial layout in the brain is a capture of the egocentric experiences the observer has with the space.

To better understand the effects of different types of encoding on memory, we are studying how brain activation varies as a function of study and test conditions. These various conditions include different types of visual information, comparisons between visual and nonvisual information, and comparisons across different type of spatial tests. Together with the behavioral work and results from comparative neurophysiology, we hope to shed some light on how the brain processes spatial information during both encoding and retrieval.

Shelton Lab

223 Ames Hall
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Johns Hopkins University
3400 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
Phone: 410-516-6578
Fax: 410-516-4478