• Cullen Owens
  • BA in Philosophy: Boston University
    MA in Psychology: Boston University

    Lab:

      147 Wolf Hall 302-831-4895

    Office:

      126A Wolf Hall 302-831-0174

    Email:

      cowens@psych.udel.edu

    Vitae:

      cv.pdf

Research Interests

My immediate interests are in the behavioral and physiological correlates of episodic memory. How does the hippocampus interact with associated areas such as the parahippocampal complex and prefrontal cortex? What role does the theta rhythm play in encoding and retrieval? How does one determine a causal relationship between physiological phenomenon in the brain and its functional organization in a declarative memory task?

My broader, long-term goals lie in using our empirical understanding of the brain to describe proximal causes of consciousness. Although science may not illuminate ultimate questions of why we possess consciousness, investigating questions of how cognitive processes (such as memory and perception) interact may eventually guide a path toward a detailed description of neural mechanisms for the ontology of action and reflection or teleo-functional attributions of physical entities.

I am currently a pre-doctoral student at the University of Delaware working with Dr. Amy Griffin investigating episodic memory using in vivo electrophysiology in the rat. In the past I have worked in laboratories looking at the neurotoxic effects of the illicit drug, MDMA in the rodent, how age affects implicit and explicit memory in humans, genetic precursors of dyslexia, and the implementation of applied behavior methodologies to human autistic populations.

Publications

  • Sauvage, M.M., Fortin, N.J., Owens, C.B., Yonelinas, A.P., & Eichenbaum, H. (2008) Recognition memory: opposite effects of hippocampal damage on recollection and familiarity. Nature Neuroscience, 11(1):16-8.[link]
  • Piper, B., Fraiman, J., Owens, C., Ali, S., & Meyer, J. (2007) Dissociation of the neurochemical and behavioral effects of 3,4 Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or “ecstasy”) by Citalopram. Psychopharmacology, 33(5):1192-205.[link]
  • Nüsslein, K., Arnt, L., Rennie, J., Owens, C., & Tew, G. (2006).  Broad-spectrum antibacterial activity by a novel abiogenic peptide mimic.  Microbiology, 152, 1913-1918.[link]