Dr. Rebecca Gwynne Deason
Associate Professor - Department of Management
Research Areas:
The overall goal of Dr. Deason's research is to understand how we learn and remember items, how memory is altered or impaired by aging and disease, and how we can use preserved memory processes to improve the daily lives of older adults and patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Background
Dr. Deason received her B.A. in Psychology from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. After spending three years as a software engineer, she attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota where she received her Ph.D. in Cognitive and Biological Psychology. For her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Deason focused on examining memory in healthy older adults and patients with Alzheimer's disease at the VA Boston Healthcare System. She also received an early career development grant to fund her research through the VA. Dr. Deason also held an appointment as an Instructor in Neurology at Boston University Medical School. In 2013, Dr. Deason joined the psychology faculty at Texas State University.
About Faculty Fellows Projects
Dr. Rebecca Gwynne Deason leads research focused on promoting brain health and supporting healthy aging across the lifespan. Her Faculty Fellow projects examine memory, cognition, and lifestyle factors that may help reduce the risk of dementia and age-related cognitive decline. Current work explores how sleep, social engagement, learning, and other protective factors influence cognitive health in older adults. Through this research, Dr. Deason aims to identify practical strategies that support long-term brain health and improve quality of life as people age.
Research Impact Highlights
Leadership in memory and cognition research, healthy aging initiatives, and efforts to identify factors that support brain health and reduce the risk of dementia.
Research Insights
Support strategies to protect cognition and reduce dementia risk
Cognitive Health
Focus on music, sleep, and learning strategies to support memory and cognitive health in older adults.
Brain Health Impact
Translating research into community strategies for healthy brain aging and dementia prevention
Featured Media
In this session, our guest speakers, Dr. Rebecca Deason, Dr. Ranjini Mohan, and Anna Tutum, discussed evidence-based research and applied strategies for prolonging function in the face of dementia.
Publications
| Deason, R. G., Nadkarni, N., Tat, M. J., Flannery, S., Frustace, B., Ally, B. A., & Budson, A. E. (2017). Use of metacognitive strategies to decrease false memories in source monitoring in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Cortex, 91, 287-296. |
| Deason, R. G., Tat, M. J., Flannery, S., Mithal, P. S., Hussey, E. P., Crehan, E. T., Ally, B. A., & Budson, A. E. (2017). Response bias and response monitoring: Evidence from healthy older adults and patients with mild Alzheimer's disease. Brain and Cognition, 119, 17-24. |
| Rosa, N. M., Deason, R. G., Budson, A. E., & Gutchess, A. H. (2016). Source memory for self and other in patients with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Gerontology Psychological Sciences, 71, 59-65. |
| Deason, R. G., Hussey, E. P., Flannery, S., & Ally, B. A. (2015). Using conceptual implicit memory to understand the picture superiority effect in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Brain & Cognition, 99, 112-117. |
| McMenamin, B. W., Deason, R. G., Steele, V. R., Koutstaal, W., & Marsolek, C. J. (2015). Separability of abstract-category and specific exemplar visual object subsystems: Evidence from fMRI pattern analysis. Brain and Cognition, 93, 54-63. |
| O'Connor, M. K., Deason, R. G., Reynolds, E. W., Flannery, S., Vassey, E., Soloman, P., & Budson, A. E. (2015). The imagination inflation effect in older adults with and without Alzheimer's disease. Neuropsychology, 29, 550-60. |
| Deason, R. G., Simmons-Stern, N. R., Frustace, B. S., Ally, B. A., & Budson, A. E. (2012). Music as a memory enhancer: differences between healthy older adults and patients with Alzheimer's disease. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 22, 175-179. |
| Simmons-Stern, N. R., Deason, R. G., Brandler, B. J., Frustace, B. S., O'Connor, M. K., Ally, B. A., Budson, A. E. (2012). Music-based memory enhancement in Alzheimer's disease: Promise and limitations. Neuropsychologia, 50, 3295-3303. |