Rotem Paz

Research Interests

As a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist (licensed in Israel) with training in neuroscience, I am deeply interested in how early experiences and autobiographical memories shape the brain, biological processes, personality, self-schemas (i.e., our core beliefs about ourselves) and our subjective experience. My previous work has focused on investigating neurodegenerative diseases affecting autobiographical memory, as well as developing interventions for mental health disorders. Autobiographical memories and the self are intertwined, as is tragically evident in Alzheimer’s disease in which the fading of specific personal memories results in the loss of self-identity. Since autobiographical memories serve important functions like guiding future behaviour, supporting social bonds, and maintaining a coherent sense of self, it is essential to better understand the process of how we form and reconstruct these memories. My research program seeks to elucidate how individual differences in cognitive profiles influence the encoding, retrieval and recollection of autobiographical memories, and how they contribute to the development and maintenance of self-schemas and real-world behavioural patterns. I further investigate how such differences affect whether we become vulnerable to, or can overcome, various mental health challenges, with the ultimate goal of developing new forms of therapy interventions. My specific focus is on using a person's personal memories to help them modify unhelpful beliefs they hold about themselves.