Peggy St Jacques, PhD, Honors BSc

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Science - Psychology Science

Curriculum Vitæ

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Contact

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Science - Psychology Science

Email: pstjacqu@ualberta.ca

Overview

Area of Study / Keywords

Autobiographical Memory Memories for Events Visual Perspective Functional Neuroimaging

About

I obtained my PhD in Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University, USA, after completing an Honours BSc in Psychology at the University of Toronto, Canada. I then conducted an NRSA funded post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University, USA, before moving to the UK as a Lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex, UK. I am now an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada where I direct the Memory for Events Lab. I was recently named an Association for Psychological Science Rising Star and elected to the prestigious Memory Disorders Research Society. One of my favourite autobiographical memories is when I visited a Balsamic Vinegar House in the Reggio Emilia area in Italy.

Research

Memory for Events Lab:

My primary research focus is to understand the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support memory for events, including autobiographical experiences from one’s personal past and realistic experiences encoded in a more controlled setting. The two current research areas in the lab are: 1) how long-term representations of memory are modified via retrieval related mechanisms, and 2) the influence of visual perspective on memory encoding and retrieval. I have also examined how memories change as we age, the influence of emotion on memory, and memory related changes in dementia and post-traumatic stress disorder. We primarily use behavioral, fMRI, and immersive virtual reality techniques to understand these questions.

Some Representative Publications:

Iriye H, St. Jacques PL. (In Press) How Visual Perspective Influences the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Autobiographical Memory Retrieval. Cortex.

St. Jacques PL, Spzunar KK, Schacter DL. (2017). Shifting visual perspective during retrieval shapes autobiographical memories. NeuroImage, 148, 103-114.

St. Jacques PL, Olm C, Schacter DL. Neural mechanisms of reactivation-related updating that enhance and distort memory. (2013). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 110(49), 19671-19678.

Funding:

NSERC Discovery Grant, 2019 - 2025