Myra Fernandes

Professor; Cognitive Neuroscience Research Area Head
Myra Fernandes headshot

BSc (Waterloo), MA, PhD (Toronto)

Contact information

Governing Board & Chair-elect - Psychonomic Society

Mentorship Award - Women in Cognitive Sciences Canada

Fellow - Association for Psychological Science, Canadian Society for Brain Behaviour & Cognitive Sciences, & Psychonomic Society

Past-President - Canadian Society for Brain Behaviour & Cognitive Sciences

Past-Partner Governing Board - Canadian Psychological Association

Dr. Myra Fernandes CV (PDF)

Cognitive Neuroscience Lab

Watch a video about Dr. Fernandes' lab

My research program involves developing an understanding of the cognitive processes, and brain regions, involved in memory and language. I am interested in knowing how we encode new information, how it is organized and represented in the brain, and how we reactivate the information during retrieval. I am particularly interested in how these change as people age. I evaluate the ability of young adults and seniors to carry out a memory task under conditions in which there is another on-going task competing for their attention. I also use neuroimaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging: fMRI) to identify the brain regions and networks mediating memory processing; these are used to determine how the strategy and brain regions contributing to memory change as we age. A related research interest lies in understanding how different types of information (words, numbers, symbols, spatial layouts) are represented and organized in the brain, through the use of behavioural paradigms and fMRI. My other line of research examines the relationship between neuropsychological and neuroimaging methods of evaluation of language localization.

Funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation.

Publications (past 4 years only)

Articles in Refereed Journals (students italicized)

  • Yeung, R.C., Sokolowski, M., Fan, C.L., Fernandes, M.A., & Levine, B. (in press; accepted November 7th, 2024). The curse of imagery: Trait object and spatial imagery relate to trauma and stress outcomes. Clinical Psychological Science.
  • Kim, B., Tran, S., & Fernandes, M.A. (in press; accepted September 17th, 2024). Comparing the effectiveness of encoding techniques on memory for vocabulary in a second language. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology. *Best talk award at the Psychology Discovery Conference, Waterloo
  • Tanberg, P., Fernandes, M.A., MacLeod, C.M., & Hockley, W.E. (in press; July 23rd, 2024). The influence of cue duration on item-method directed forgetting: Selective retrieval interpretation. Memory & Cognition.
  • Tran, S., & Fernandes, M.A. (in press; accepted June 26th, 2024). Which encoding techniques facilitate comprehension? Experimental Psychology.
  • Roberts, B.R.T., Meade, M., & Fernandes, M.A. (in press; accepted May 16th, 2024) Neural integration of multimodal memories following drawing: An fMRI study. Memory & Cognition
  • Tran, S. & Fernandes, M.A. (2024). Effectiveness of production and drawing as encoding techniques on recall using mixed- and pure-list designs. Memory, 1–18.
  • Cox, A., & Fernandes, M.A. (2024).Long-term cognitive and affective consequences of mild traumatic brain injury: Comparison with older adults. Brain Injury, 38(13), 1133-1146.
  • Sivashankar, Y., He, P., Sauzéon, H., & Fernandes, M.A. (2024). The benefit of motoric engagement at encoding on route memory. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 24(4), 271-296.
  • Fernandes, M.A. (2024). A case for using methods from natural science in advancing the field of cognitive neuroscience. Theory & Psychology, 34(3), 392-404.
  • Yeung, R.C., & Fernandes, M.A. (2024). Recurrent involuntary memories and mind wandering are related but distinct. Psychological Research, 88, 1483–1498.
  • Yeung, R.C., Danckert, J., van Tilburg, W.A.P., & Fernandes, M.A. (2024). Disentangling boredom from depression using the phenomenology and content of involuntary autobiographical memories. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 2106.
  • Sivashankar, Y., Fernandes, M.A., Oudeyer, P.-Y., & Sauzéon, H. (2024). The beneficial role of curiosity on route memory in children. Frontiers in Cognition, 3, 1346280.
  • Levi, A., Pugsley, A., Fernandes, M.A., Turner, G.R., & Gilboa, A. (2024). Drawing improves memory in patients with hippocampal damage. Memory & Cognition, 1-16.
  • Yeung, R.C., & Fernandes, M.A. (2023). Specific topics, specific symptoms: Linking the content of recurrent involuntary memories to mental health using computational text analysis. Nature Portfolio Journals (npj) Mental Health Res, 2, 22.
  • Tran, S., & Fernandes, M.A. (2023). Drawing independently enhances memory for emotional words. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 77(4), 296-307.
  • Roberts, B.R.T., MacLeod, C.M., & Fernandes, M.A. (2023). Symbol superiority: Why $ is better remembered than ‘dollar’. Cognition, 238, 105435.
  • Tran, S., & Fernandes, M.A. (2023). Age differences in effectiveness of encoding techniques on memory. Aging, Neuropsychology, & Cognition, 31(3), 479-495.
  • Morrison-Koechl, J.M., Fearon, D.O., Fernandes, M.A., & Tyas, S.L. (2023). The association between emotional expressivity in autobiographies from early adulthood and the risk of dementia in the context of written language skills. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 7(1), 317-326.
  • Roberts, B.R.T., Fernandes, M.A., & MacLeod, C.M. (2023). Memory for symbolic images: Findings from sport team logos. Journal of Applied Research in Memory & Cognition, 12(4), 589-596.
  • Tran, S.H., Beech, I., & Fernandes, M. A. (2023). Drawing compared to writing in a diary enhances recall of autobiographical memories. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 30(3), 455-471.
  • Roberts, B.R.T., MacLeod, C.M., & Fernandes, M.A. (2022). The enactment effect: An integrative review of behavioural, neuroimaging, and patient studies. Psychological Bulletin, 148(5-6), 397-434.
  • Yeung, R.C., & Fernandes, M.A. (2022). Machine learning to detect invalid text responses: Validation and comparison to existing detection methods. Behavior Research Methods, 54, 3055-3070.
  • Sivashankar, Y., Liu, J., & Fernandes, M. A. (2022). The importance of performing versus observing meaningful actions on the enactment benefit to memory. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 35(1), 1-14.
  • Yeung, R.C., Stastna, M., & Fernandes, M.A. (2022). Understanding autobiographical memory content using computational text analysis. Memory, 30(1), 1267- 1287.
  • Tanberg, P., Fernandes, M.A., & MacLeod, C.M. (2022). Aging and directed forgetting: Evidence for an associative deficit but no evidence for an inhibition deficit. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 76(3), 210-217.
  • Homann, L.A., Roberts, B.R.T., Ahmed, S., & Fernandes, M.A. (2022). Are emojis processed visuo-spatially or verbally? Evidence for dual codes. Visual Cognition, 30(4), 267-279.
  • Sivashankar, Y., & Fernandes, M.A. (2022). Enhancing memory using enactment: Does meaning matter in action production? Memory, 30(2), 147-160.
  • Yeung, R.C., & Fernandes, M.A. (2021). Recurrent involuntary memories are modulated by age and linked to mental health. Psychology and Aging, 36(7), 883.
  • Yeung, R.C., & Fernandes, M.A. (2021). Divided attention at encoding or retrieval interferes with emotionally enhanced memory for words. Memory, 29(3), 284-297.
  • Yeung, R.C., Lee, C.M., & Fernandes, M.A. (2021). The influence of social anxiety-provoking contexts on context reinstatement effects. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(7),1170-1184.
  • Larche, C.J., Chini, K., Lee, C., Dixon, M. J., & Fernandes, M.A. (2021). Rare loot box rewards trigger larger arousal and reward responses, and greater urge to open more loot boxes. Journal of Gambling Studies, 37, 141-163.
  • McCrackin, S.D., Lee, C.M., Itier, R.J., & Fernandes, M.A. (2020). Meaningful faces: Self-relevance of semantic context in an initial social encounter improves later face recognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28, 283-291.
  • Yeung, R.C., & Fernandes, M.A. (2020). Recurrent involuntary autobiographical memories:  Characteristics and links to mental health status. Memory, 1-13.
  • Roberts, B.R.T., Fernandes, M.A., & MacLeod, C.M (2020). Re-evaluating the influence of bilateral eye movements on memory. PLOS One, 15(1), e0227790.
  • Meade, M,E., Klein, M. & Fernandes, M.A. (2020). The benefit (and cost) of drawing in episodic memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(2), 199-210.
  • Roberts, B., Wammes, J., & Fernandes, M.A. (2020) Drawing with your eyes: Extending mnemonic research. Mind Pad, 9(1), 3-7.
  • Meade, M.E., Ahmad, M., & Fernandes, M.A. (2020). Drawing pictures at encoding enhances memory in healthy older adults and in individuals with probable dementia. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 27(6), 880-901.
  • Robertson, A.D., Heckman, G.A.W., Fernandes, M.A., Roy, E.A., Tyas, S.L., & Hughson, R.L. (2020). Carotid pulse pressure and intima media thickness are directly and independently associated with cerebral hemodynamic pulsatility in asymptomatic older adults. Journal of Human Hypertension, 34(11):768-777.

Grants

  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery grant (current)
  • Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) operating grant (past)
  • Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation Early Researcher Award grant (past)

Editorial boards

  • Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology (Associate Editor)
  • Psychology & Aging
  • Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and past Associate Editor
  • Memory & Cognition (past Associate Editor)

Teaching

  • Mindtools to Maximize your Memory (Arts 130)
  • Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory (Psychology 461)
  • Case Studies in Neuropsychology (Psychology 461)
  • Research Methods in Memory (Psychology 390/398)
  • Case Studies in in Neuroscience (Psychology 790)
  • Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory & Aging (Psychology 781)
  • Introduction of Physiological Psychology (Psychology 261)
  • Introduction to Cognition (Psychology 207)
  • Fundamentals of Neuroscience (Psychology 677A)