Pamela M. Greenwood

Pamela M. Greenwood

Pamela M. Greenwood

Emeritus Faculty

Human Factors/Applied Cognition: Genetic modulation of cognitive and brain aging, interventions for cognitive aging (behavioral and non-invasive brain stimulation).

Dr. Greenwood received her PhD at SUNY Stony Brook under Michael Gazzaniga. She went on to a post-doctoral fellowship at the West Haven VA and Yale University to learn event-related potential techniques with Truett Allison and W.R. Goff and conduct basic research on somatic event-related potentials. She eventually moved to Catholic University in Washington, DC, to study attention using both electrophysiology and behavioral methods in healthy aging and Alzheimer's disease. There, she and Raja Parasuraman developed a large-scale study of the genetics of normal and pathological cognitive aging as a function of Alzheimer’s susceptibility genes and neurotransmission genes. These efforts have evolved to include investigations into ways to ameliorate cognitive aging and broadened into investigations of the principles important in successful cognitive training in general.

Current Research

We are currently focused on (a) understanding the relation between cognitive change and brain change over the course of cognitive training, and (b) understanding how training-related cognitive change is related to change in cortical thickness, white matter integrity, and functioning connectivity, particularly in ventral and dorsal attention networks. Further, we are investigating the modulation of cognitive training with non-invasive brain stimulation.

Selected Publications

Greenwood, P.M. & Baldwin, C.L. (2022) Preferred Sources of Information, Knowledge, and Acceptance of Automated Vehicle Systems: Effects of Gender and Age. Front. Psychol. 13:806552. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.806552

Greenwood, P.M., Lenneman, J.K. & Baldwin, C.L. (2022) Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS): Demographics, preferred sources of information, and accuracy of ADAS knowledge. Transportation Research Part F: Psychology and Behaviour.

Greenwood, P.M. (2020) Far Transfer and Cognitive Training: Examination of Two Hypotheses on Mechanisms, In The Cambridge Handbook of Cognitive Aging, Gutchess & Thomas, Eds., Cambridge University Press.

Baldwin, C., Lewis, B., Greenwood, P.M.  (2019) Designing Transportation Systems for Older Adults. CRC Press.

Greenwood, P.M., Schmidt, K., Lin, M.-K., Lipsky, R., Parasuraman, R., Jankord, R.  A functional promoter variant of the human formimidoyltransferase cyclodeaminase (FTCD) gene is associated with working memory performance in young but not older adults. Neuropsychology, 2018 Nov;32(8):973-984. doi: 10.1037/neu0000470. Epub 2018 Jun 21.PMID:29927301.

Greenwood, P.M., Blumberg, E., Scheldrup, M. Hypothesis for cognitive effects of transcranial direct current stimulation: Externally- and internally-directed cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2017 Nov 15. pii: S0149-7634(17)30004-0. doi: 10.1016/

Foroughi CK, Monfort SS, Paczynski M, McKnight PE, Greenwood PM.  Placebo effects in cognitive training. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Jul 5;113(27):7470-4. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1601243113

Greenwood, P.M. & Parasuraman, R. (2016) Mechanisms of far transfer from cognitive training: Review and hypothesis. Neuropsychology, Sep;30(6):742-55. doi: 10.1037/neu0000235.

Rovira, E., Mackie, R.S., Clark, N., Squire, P.N., Pulido, A. Hendricks, M., & Greenwood, P.M. (2017) A Role for Attention During Wilderness Navigation: Comparing Effects of BDNF, KIBRA, and CHRNA4.
Neuropsychology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/neu0000277

Greenwood, P.M. , Lin, M.-K., Sundarajan, R., Fryxell, K.J., Parasuraman, R. (2014) Healthy aging increases the cognitive effects of two genes that influence extracellular dopamine. Psychology and Aging, 29(2):363-73. doi: 10.1037/a0036109.

Strenziok, M., Parasuraman, R., Clarke, E., Cisler, D.S., Thompson J.C., Greenwood P.M. (2014). Neurocognitive enhancement in older adults: Comparison of three cognitive training tasks to test a hypothesis of training transfer in brain connectivity, Neuroimage; DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.07.069.

Scheldrup, M., Greenwood, P.M., McKendrick, R., Strohl, J., Bikson, M., Alam, M., McKinley, R.A., Parasuraman, R. (2014) Transcranial direct current stimulation facilitates cognitive multi-task performance differentially depending on anode location and subtask. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Sep 8;8:665. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00665. eCollection 2014.

Greenwood, P.M. & Parasuraman, R. (2012) Nurturing the Older Brain and Mind. MIT Press.

Greenwood, P. M., Parasuraman, R., & Espeseth, T. (2012). A cognitive phenotype for the nicotinic receptor gene CHRNA4 rs1044396. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 36, 1331-1341.

Greenwood, P. M., Lin, M. K., Sundararajan, R., Fryxell, K. J., & Parasuraman, R. (2009). Synergistic effects of genetic variation in nicotinic and muscarinic receptors on visual attention but not working memory. Proceeding of the Natlonal Academy of Sciences, USA, 106(9), 3633-3638.

Greenwood, P.M. (2007). Functional plasticity in cognitive aging: Review and hypothesis. Neuropsychology, 21, 657-673. (Published with open peer commentary).

Expanded Publication List

Books

Baldwin, C., Lewis, B., Greenwood, P.M.  (2019) Designing Transportation Systems for Older Adults. CRC Press.

Greenwood, P.M. & Parasuraman, R. (2012) Nurturing the Older Brain and Mind. MIT Press.

Parasuraman, R. & Greenwood, P.M. (2006) Individual differences in attention and working memory: A molecular genetics approach. In A. Kramer, D. Wiegemann, & A. Kirlik (Eds.) Attention: From Theory to Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.

Papers

Scheldrup, M., Greenwood, P.M., McKendrick, R., Strohl, J., Bikson, M., Alam, M., McKinley, R.A., Parasuraman, R. (in press) Transcranial direct current stimulation facilitates cognitive multi-task performance differentially depending on anode location and subtask. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

Monge, Z., Strenziok, M., Greenwood, P.M., Parasuraman, R. (under review). Individual differences in reasoning and visuospatial attention are associated with prefrontal and parietal white matter tracts in aging.

Greenwood, P.M., Espeseth, T., Lin, M.-K., Reinvang, I.,-K., Parasuraman, R. Longitudinal change in working memory as a function of APOE genotype in midlife and old age. (2014) Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 55(3):268-77. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12123.

Greenwood, P.M. , Lin, M.-K., Sundarajan, R., Fryxell, K.J., Parasuraman, R. (2014) Healthy aging increases the cognitive effects of two genes that influence extracellular dopamine. Psychology and Aging, 29(2):363-73. doi: 10.1037/a0036109.

Parasuraman, R., Kidwell, B., Olmstead, R., Lin, M.-K., Jankord, R., Greenwood, P.M. (2013). Interactive Effects of the COMT Gene and Training on Individual differences in supervisory control of unmanned vehicles. Human Factors, DOI: 10.1177/0018720813510736

Strenziok, M., Greenwood, P. M., Thompson, J.C., Parasuraman, R. (2013) Differential contributions of dorso-ventral and rostro-caudal prefrontal white matter tracts to cognitive control in healthy older adults. PLoS ONE 8(12):e81410. doi: 10.1371

Strenziok, M., Parasuraman, R., Clarke, E., Cisler, D.S., Thompson J.C., Greenwood P.M. (2014). Neurocognitive enhancement in older adults: Comparison of three cognitive training tasks to test a hypothesis of training transfer in brain connectivity, Neuroimage; DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.07.069.

Wang, Y., Fu, S., Greenwood, P., Luo, Y., & Parasuraman, R. (2012). Perceptual load, voluntary attention, and aging: an event related potential study. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 84, 17-25.

Greenwood, P. M., Parasuraman, R., & Espeseth, T. (2012). A cognitive phenotype for the nicotinic receptor gene CHRNA4 rs1044396. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 36, 1331-1341.

Parasuraman, R., de Visser, E., Lin, M-K., & Greenwood, P.M. (2012) Dopamine Beta Hydroxylase genotype identifies individuals less susceptible to bias in computer-assisted decision making. PLoS ONE, 7, e39675.

Greenwood, P.M. & Parasuraman, R. (2010) Neuronal and cognitive plasticity:  a neurocognitive framework for ameliorating cognitive aging. Invited paper for Special Topic Issue: Interventions for aging brains and minds. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 150, 1-13.

Fu, S. Fedota, J., Greenwood, P. M., & Parasuraman, R. (2010 Dissociation of visual C1 and P1 components as a function of attentional load: An event-related potential study. Biological Psychology

Fu, S., Fedota, J., Greenwood, P. M., & Parasuraman, R. (2010). Early interaction between perceptual load and involuntary attention: An event-related potential study. Neurosci Lett. 468(1):68-71.

Fu, S., Huang, Y., Luo, Y., Wang, Y., Fedota, J., Greenwood, P. M., et al. (2009). Perceptual load interacts with involuntary attention at early processing stages: Event-related potential studies. Neuroimage. 48(1), 191-199.

Greenwood, P. M., Lin, M. K., Sundararajan, R., Fryxell, K. J., & Parasuraman, R. (2009). Synergistic effects of genetic variation in nicotinic and muscarinic receptors on visual attention but not working memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 106(9), 3633-3638.

Greenwood, P. M., Sundararajan, R., Lin, M. K., Kumar, R., Fryxell, K. J., & Parasuraman, R. (2009). Both a Nicotinic SNP and a Noradrenergic SNP Modulate Working Memory Performance when Attention is Manipulated. J Cogn Neurosci. 21 (11) 2139-53.

Greenwood, P.M. (2007) Functional plasticity in cognitive aging: Review and hypothesis. Neuropsychology, 21, 657-673.  (Published with open peer commentary)

Greenwood, P.M. (2007) Reply to Grady, Raz, and Salthouse: Can age and treachery overcome youth and skill? Neuropsychology 21, 680-683.  (Responsetoopen peer commentary)

Negash, S., Greenwood, P.M., Sunderland, T., Parasuraman, R., Geda, Y.E., Knopman, D.S., Boeve, B.F., Ivnik, R., Petersen, R.J., Smith, G.E. (2009) The influence of apolipoprotein E genotype on visuospatial attention dissipates after age 80. Neuropsychology, 23, 81-89.

Greenwood, P.M., Sunderland, T. Friz, J., Parasuraman, R. (2000) Genetics and visual attention: Selective deficits in healthy adult carriers of the e4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97, 11661-11666.

Education

B.S.   University of Illinois     1969       Psychology

Ph.D.  State University of New York at Stony Brook    1977  Physiol. Psychology

Postdoctoral training in Electrophysiology   1977-1980  Yale University, Neurology   

Recent Presentations

Greenwood, P.M. Invited “State of the Science” talk at Cognitive Aging Conference, April 6, 2014, in Atlanta Georga.  Title of talk  “Heterogeneity in cognitive aging: genetics and epigenetics.”

Scheldrup, M., Strohl, J., Vance, J., Walker, D., Greenwood, P.G., Parasuraman, R. Transcranial direct current stimulation exerts selective benefits on executive control in a complex task whether prefrontal or motor cortex is stimulated. Cognitive Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting, 2013

Scheldrup, M., Vance, J., Glazier, S., Darmini, Y., McKinley, R.A., Parasuraman, R., Greenwood, P. Transcranial direct current stimulation and acquisition of a complex task; effect of stimulation timing during training. Cognitive Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting, 2014

Scheldrup, M., Vance, J., McKinley, R.A., Bikson, M., Parasuraman, R., Greenwood, P.G. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation differentially influences implicit and explicit memory in a multi-task. To be presented to Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC 2014.

Cisler, D., Strenziok, M., Parasuraman, R. Greenwood, P.M. Intensive working memory training transfers to everyday functioning and alters connectivity between the dorsal and ventral attention networks. To be presented to Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC 2014

Clayton, E., Cisler, D., McKinley, R., Bikson, M., Greenwood,P.M., Parasuraman, R. Comparison of cognitive training vs transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on performance of a “Cyber Defense” multi-task. To be presented to Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC 2014

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