Veronica galvan

Biography

Veronica Galván, PhD, teaches a variety of courses that primarily focus on the brain and cognition. Her current research interests are human memory and some of the factors that may enhance or impair it, such as attention and stress. Galván actively works with undergraduates to conduct her research. She is also the faculty advisor for the Psychology Department’s Journal Club.Dr. Galván’s earlier work investigated how the firing properties of neurons in the auditory cortex change on a persistent basis as a result of classical conditioning, one form of learning. Her current research interests are human memory and some of the factors (such as attention and stress) that may enhance or impair it. She uses a biological, cognitive and social perspective to explore the effects of social stress and common situations that impair attention on memory formation. She has an active student-based research program at USD, and her students have presented their research at Creative Collaborations. Galván has been a member of the Society for Neuroscience and has presented her research at the Society’s annual meetings and has published in the Journal of Neurobiology of Learning & Memory and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Research Interest

Dr. Galván has taught a variety of classes at USD. Her upper division classes focus on the brain (Biopsychology, Biopsychology Lab, and Sensation and Perception) and cognition (Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Psychology Lab, and Human Memory). Facilitated by her background in neuroscience, she has also developed an independent study class in which students visit neuroscientists in Irvine and San Diego to discuss their current research. Galván emphasizes real-world application and active learning in her classes. She recently took students to science conferences, an exhibition of plastinated bodies, lunch with drug addiction scientists, and a nursing home to conduct memory tests.