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To help us further our understanding of autobiographical memory we are looking for both young (18-35) and older adults (60+) to participate in our studies. 

Currently we are recruiting for a multi-phase project, made up of several individual studies, which take place at the School of Psychology at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich.

In order to take part, you must:

  • Have normal or corrected-to normal vision (i.e., wear glasses or contacts as required)
  • Be an English native speaker (or have learnt English from a young age)
  • Have no diagnosed psychiatric or neurological conditions. 

You may be invited to participate to one or to multiple studies. If you sign-up to participate, you will not have to take part in all the study sessions. We will contact you with the full details of each study when they are due to begin, and you can decide if you wish to take part at that time. However, due to the multi-phase nature of the study, we are particularly interested to recruit participants who would consider participating to several studies, as described below.

What the studies may involve:

  • Genotyping: Through genotyping we will be able to look at differences in people’s genetics that make each of us unique. For this project, we are particularly interested in a gene called APOE, because research suggests that certain subtypes of this gene may have links to increased prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease. Please note however that you will not be able to access your individual results after the sample has been analysed.
  • Brain Scan: You will be invited to visit the UEA Brain Imaging Centre for a session of up to 1 hour. There is no specific task to do in this study, we will simply take various pictures of your brain as you rest in the scanner. Please not however that we will not be able to show or share the images acquired on the day of your scan.
  • Autobiographical Interview & Neuropsychological tasks: You will be invited to complete a series of neuropsychological tasks (online or in person) which measure comprehension, language and memory. During the autobiographical interview, we will ask you to discuss events from your childhood, adulthood or from recent years. This study takes about 2 hours.
  • Electroencephalography (EEG): You will be invited to visit the EEG lab of the school of Psychology for a session of about 2 hours. EEG is a non-invasive technique that enables the recording of brain activity by placing small sensors on the scalp. In this study, you will do simple tasks on the computer, while we record your brain activity. 

You will be compensated for your time. If you are interested in participating or would like more details, please contact us at memoryandageing@uea.ac.uk​