Alison Montagrin
Function: Professor assistant
Group name: Brain and Memory Lab (BAM)
Group type: Main
Affiliations: Psychology Section
Domains: Attention and Cognition
Keywords: Amygdala, Goal relevance, Hippocampus, memory, Prefrontal cortex, Stiatum
Research activities
Our research addresses a key gap in the literature: the interaction between memory systems (episodic memory and habits) that are typically studied in isolation. Habits allow us to navigate life efficiently by freeing up mental resources. They enable us to perform many daily actions automatically, such as locking the door before leaving home. Even when these actions are automatic, we can still remember when they occurred, for example, distinguishing locking the door today from yesterday. This shows that habits are linked to spatio-temporal memory. This project investigates how the brain keeps track of when and where actions occur during habit formation and disruption. Understanding how habits are integrated into memory systems is crucial for both basic and clinical research, as it reveals how pathological processes (e.g., in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) can transform beneficial habits into maladaptive ones.
Key publications
The hippocampus dissociates present from past and future goals.
Delay discounting decisions are linked to temporal distance representations of world events across cultures.
The social hippocampus.
Goal-relevant situations facilitate memory of neutral faces.
Effects of hunger on emotional arousal responses and attention/memory biases.
Contact
Faculté de psychologie et sciences de l’éducation
Université de Genève
Email: Alison.Montagrin@unige.ch