Rocco Palumbo, PhD

Dr. Palumbo earned his Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from University of Chieti, Italy. After spending 12 months as a visiting student at Brandeis University, he started his postdoctoral fellowship at Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Palumbo background focused in monitoring changes of cognitive functions in pathological and healthy populations. He has worked on a wide range of projects, starting with the study of the normal functioning in different domains as perception, attention, emotion and memory, he investigated how these functions change during the life span and how pathological conditions such as dementia or mental disorders affect cognitive functions.

Dr. Palumbo, is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at BUSM and is currently Program Manager in the Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience at the VA Boston Healthcare System, working on several projects focusing on the role of false memories in patients with memory disorders.

Dr. Palumbo’s research interests include understanding memory in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders. Dr. Palumbo is particularly interested in understanding healthy and pathological cognitive aging. 

Publications:

Malone C, Deason RG, Palumbo R, Heyworth N, Tat M, Budson AE. False memories in patients with mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer’s disease dementia: Can cognitive strategies help? J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2019 Mar; 41(2):204-218.

Picconi L, Balsamo M, Palumbo R, Fairfield B. Testing Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance Across Gender With Italian Geriatric Anxiety Scale. Front Psychol. 2018; 9:1164.

Palumbo R, Di Domenico A. Editorial: New Boundaries Between Aging, Cognition, and Emotions. Front Psychol. 2018; 9:973.

Palumbo R, Mammarella N, Di Domenico A, Fairfield B. When and where in aging: the role of music on source monitoring. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2018 Jun; 30(6):669-676.

Palumbo R, Adams RB, Hess U, Kleck RE, Zebrowitz L. Age and Gender Differences in Facial Attractiveness, but Not Emotion Resemblance, Contribute to Age and Gender Stereotypes. Front Psychol. 2017; 8:1704.

Palumbo R, Di Domenico A. Commentary: Interaction between facial expression and color. Front Neurosci. 2017; 11:435.

Palumbo R, D’Ascenzo S, Tommasi L. Editorial: High-Level Adaptation and Aftereffects. Front Psychol. 2017; 8:217.

Palumbo R, D’Ascenzo S, Quercia A, Tommasi L. Adaptation to Complex Pictures: Exposure to Emotional Valence Induces Assimilative Aftereffects. Front Psychol. 2017; 8:54.

Mammarella N, Di Domenico A, Palumbo R, Fairfield B. Self-generation and positivity effects following transcranial random noise stimulation in medial prefrontal cortex: A reality monitoring task in older adults. Cortex. 2017 06; 91:186-196.

Mammarella N, Di Domenico A, Palumbo R, Fairfield B. When green is positive and red is negative: Aging and the influence of color on emotional memories. Psychol Aging. 2016 12; 31(8):914-926.