Sara B. Festini

Biography

Festini’s research focuses primarily on human memory, executive control and cognitive aging. Several research projects have investigated people’s ability to prioritize information in working memory by following “directed forgetting” instructions. She is also interested in whether certain lifestyle characteristics, such as day-to-day levels of busyness, are associated with mental function. One recent publication reported favorable associations between busyness and cognitive abilities in middle-aged and older adults, with the strongest relationship observed for episodic memory. Festini has also studied name learning, motor learning, dual-task interference, the influence of emotion on cognition, cerebellar connectivity in Parkinson’s patients, as well as how cognitive processes, brain structure and brain function vary across the adult lifespan.

Research Interest

Sara Festini specializes in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience.