Adrienne Tucker, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
The Taub Institute
630 West 168th Street
New York, NY 10032
Phone: 212-305-2046
Fax: 212-342-1838
Email: at2573@columbia.edu
Ongoing Research:
Cognitive consequences of sleep deprivation: While sleep deprivation has been shown to grossly impair the ability to sustain attention in most individuals, some aspects of cognitive performance may be intact or even improved during sleep deprivation. For example, it is not clear how and whether sleep deprivation affects the performance of complex tasks such as time estimation and decision making. I am looking at tasks that allow one to isolate cognitive components of performance in order to pinpoint the source of performance changes during sleep loss. This may allow better prediction of the effects of sleep deprivation on functionally relevant outcomes.
Understanding differential vulnerability to performance lapses during sleep deprivation: Some individuals are seemingly resistant to performance lapses on tasks of sustained attention during sleep loss. I am interested in whether resistance in this cognitive domain is associated with resistance to impairment on other types of tasks during sleep deprivation. That is, I am interested in whether resistance to performance impairment is general or domain-specific in the context of sleep deprivation. Understanding these differences could help to predict how specific individuals will perform in real-world settings.
Brain activation and performance during sleep deprivation: I am using neuroimaging methods to examine differences in brain network utilization between those resistant and those vulnerable to lapses in sustained attention during sleep deprivation. I am also additionally interested in whether cognitive reserve variables such as IQ and education moderate the relationship between neural activation patterns and performance.
Representative Publications
Tucker, A.M., Dinges, D.F., Van Dongen, H.P.A. Trait inter-individual differences in the sleep physiology of healthy young adults. (2007). Journal of Sleep Research, 16, 170-180.
Oonk, M., Tucker, A.M., Belenky, G., Van Dongen, H. (2008). Excessive sleepiness: Determinants, outcomes, and context. International Journal of Sleep and Wakefulness, 1(4), 141-147.