Behavioral Science

Yang Jiang, Ph.D.

(Miami Univ. (OH), Psychology 1995; Postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School, Catholic University of America, and National Institute of Mental Health)

113 Medical Behavioral Science Building
Phone: (859) 257-2122
Email: yjiang@uky.edu

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Research Description

Dr. Jiang’s research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying visual perception and cognition in healthy and clinical populations. Her lab is using approaches of psychophysics and cognitive neuroscience, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and event-related potentials (ERPs).  The current projects include developing neurosignatures of memory malfunction and cognitive impairment due to aging or brain damage, and measuring individual differences in behavior, brain responses and genetics associated with cognitive and affective processes.

2011 Accomplishments

Dr. Yang Jiang has been productive in research, teaching and service during 2011.   She has published seven peer-reviewed publications (including a review paper on neuroimaging of individual differences in cognition) along with her students and collaborators.  Four other manuscripts are currently under review. She made eight presentations at national or international conferences along with her collaborators. Dr. Jiang submitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) an R01 application as a principal investigator on neuroimaging biomarkers for early detection of cognitive impairment, and has received approval of pre-proposals for submissions to the Department of Defense and the Alzheimer’s Association.  She is also a co-investigator on two NIH-funded projects under the Center for Drug Abuse Translation at the University of Kentucky (UK).  She received funding from the Behavioral Science department and CDART to conduct pilot research on genetic bases for risky behavior, along with colleagues cross UK campus.   Dr. Jiang has been active in mentoring postdoctoral, graduate, undergraduate and medical student trainees in clinical neuroscience research.  She served on 10 graduate Ph.D. committees in 2011.  She is mentoring an MD/PhD candidate supported by the NIH T-32 training grant on aging to UK.  Two of her trainees were in the news media for their graduate research conducted in her laboratory (Aging Brain and Cognition).  She continues to teach first year medical students in Introduction to Clinical Medicine (MD811), research apprenticeship for graduate (RHB789; BSC790) and undergraduate students (BIO397; PSY397), and guest lectured in Medical Physics (DRP648), Comparative Decision Making Studies (CS660), and Passport to China (A&S 100).  Dr. Jiang served the research community at large by participating in the peer-review of grants and manuscripts in 2011.  She reviewed grant proposals for three NIH study sections (reviewing NIH R01, R15, and F30/31 grants), for the Alzheimer's Association, and for the National Science Foundation. She continues to be a manuscript reviewer for multiple peer-reviewed journals in cognitive neuroscience and psychology.  At UK, she served as faculty judge and her laboratory presented on Cognitive Science Day, Neuroscience Day, Spring Conference in Clinical and Translational Research, Comparative Decision-making Conference, and Markesbery Symposium on Aging and Dementia.  Dr. Jiang serves on the Cognitive Science steering committee, the International Activities committee for global health, and medical research sub-committee.  She is also serving on the Asia Center steering committee.

Research Funding

Co-Investigator, “Individual Differences in sensation seeking status”, (Kelly), National Institute of Drug Abuse, P50 DA005312 to UK CDART center (Bardo), 2008-2013.

Co-Investigator, “Individual Differences in reward and inhibition”, National Institute of Drug Abuse, (Lynam), P50 DA005312 (Bardo), 2008-2013.

Co-Principal Investigator, “Alzheimer's disease detection via non-linear analysis of EEG”, Department of Energy, DE-AC05-OR22725 to Ork Ridge National Laboratory (UK site Smith), 6/2005-9/09.

Principal Investigator, "NeuroImaging of complex motion in young and old", National Institute of Aging (NIA), K01 AG00986 (Jiang), 9/2001-8/07.

Principal Investigator, "Brain imaging of visual memory for dynamic 3-D objects" Pilot grant, part of NIH P50 AG05144-21 to Alzheimer Disease Research Center (Markesbery), 5/2004-3/07.

Representative Publications

Ding, JH, Powell, D, & Jiang, Y. (2009). Dissociable frontal controls during visible and memory-guided eye-tracking of moving targets, Human Brain Mapping, in Press.

Jiang, Y, Lianekhammy, J, Lawson, A, Guo, C, Lynam, D, Joseph, J, Gold, BT, & Kelly, TH. (2009). Brain responses to repeated visual experience among low and high sensation seekers: role of boredom susceptibility, Psychiatry Research: NeuroImaging, 173, 100-106.

Jiang, Y, Ding, JH, Gold, BT, & Powell, D (2008). The hemispheric asymmetries in tracking occluded moving targets with the mind's eye: Simultaneous event-related fMRI and eye-movement recording, Brain Imaging and Behavior, special issue, in press.

Guo, CY, Lawson, A, Zhang, Q, & Jiang, Y (2008). Brain potentials of new and studied objects during working memory, Human Brain Mapping, 29 (4), 441-452 (Cover Illustration).

Jiang, Y, Boehler, CN, Nönnig, N, Düzel, E, Hopf, JM, Heinze, HJ, & Schoenfeld, MA (2008). Spatial-temporal analysis of binding 3D shape perception, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20 (4), 553-562.

Vagnini, V, Berry, D, Clark, J, & Jiang, Y (2008). New measures to detect malingered neurocognitive deficit: Applying reaction time and event-related potentials, Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 26:1-11[Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1080/13803390701754746].

Jiang, Y, Luo, YJ, & Parasuraman, R (2008). Neural mechanisms underlying age-related reduction in visual motion priming, Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, in press.

Lawson, AL, Guo, C, & Jiang, Y (2007). Age effects on brain activity during repetition priming of targets and distracters, Neuropsychologia, 45, 1223-1231.

Guo, CY, Lawson, A, & Jiang, Y (2007). Two distinct neural mechanisms of repetition priming, Neuroscience, 149, 747-759.

Jiang, Y., Vagnini, V., Clark, J., & Zhang, Q. (2007). Reduced sensitivity of affective mismatches in older adults. TheScientificWorldJOURNAL,7, 641-648, DOI 10.1100/tsw.2007.115.

Zhang, Q., Guo, C., Lawson, A., & Jiang, Y. (2006). Electrophysiological correlates of visual affective priming, Brain Research Bulletin, 71 316-323.

Caggiano, D., Jiang, Y., & Parasuraman, R. (2006). Aging and repetition priming for targets and distracters in a working memory task, Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 13, 552-573.

Jiang, Y., Luo, Y.J., & Parasuraman, R. (2002). Two-dimensional visual motion priming is reduced in older adults.  Neuropsychology,16 (2), 140-145.

Jiang, Y., Haxby, J.V., Martin, A., Ungerleider, L.G., & Parasuraman, R. (2000). Complementary neural mechanisms for tracking familiar items in human working memory, Science, 287, 643-646.

Jiang, Y., Luo, Y.J., & Parasuraman, R. (2002). Neural correlates for perceptual priming of visual motion.  Brain Research Bulletin, 57 (2), 211-219.

Jiang, Y., Greenwood, P., & Parasuraman, R. (1999). Age-related reduction in 3-D visual motion priming.  Psychology and Aging, 14 (4), 619-626.

Mark, L.S., Jiang, Y., King, S.S., & Paasche, J. (1999). The impact of visual exploration on judgments of whether a gap is crossable.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 25 (1), 287-295.

Jiang, Y., Pantle, A.J., & Mark, L.S. (1998). Visual inertia of rotating 3-D objects. Perception and Psychophysics, 60 (2), 275-286.

Research Facilities