Chad Woodruff, PhD  

Assistant Professor
Post-doctoral fellowship, Department of Neurobiology of Behavior, University of California, Irvine, 2003-2005
PhD University of New Mexico, 2003
MS University of New Mexico, 1999
BFA University of Oklahoma, 1993
E-mail: chad.woodruff@nau.edu

Professional interests

Dr. Woodruff’s research interests lie in the cognitive neuroscience of attention, memory and social processing. 

In particular he conducts research into visual attention, episodic memory and the roles these cognitive mechanisms play in social processes such as self-identity, theory of mind, ethics, and racism/prejudice. He investigates these processes with the use of functional brain measures such as Electroencephalography (his primary tool), Magnetoencephalography and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). 

Further, he is interested in applying brain measures of social cognitive processes to disorders such as autism and Alzheimer’s disease. He is currently running experiments in visual attention, episodic memory, and motor imagery, and is putting together a project to measure changes in the mirror neuron system related to the efficacy of social skills training in people with autism. 

Recent publications  

  • Woodruff CC, Uncapher M, Rugg MD (2006). Neural correlates of differential retrieval orientation: Sustained and item-related components. Neuropsychologia, 44(14), 3000-3010. 
  • Woodruff CC, Hayama H, Rugg MD (2006). Electrophysiological dissociation of the neural correlates of recollection and familiarity. Cognitive Brain Research, 1100(1), 125-35. 
  • Aine C, Woodruff C, Knoefel J, Adair J, Hudson D, Qualls C, Bockholt C, Kovacevic S, Cobb W, Padilla D, Hart D, Stephen J (2006). Aging: Compensation or maturation. Neuroimage, 32(4), 1891-1904. 
  • Martin T, McDaniel M, Guynn M, Houck J, Woodruff C, Bish J, Moses S, Jackson J, Dubravko K, Tesche C (2006). MEG Reveals Different Contributions of Motor Cortex and Cerebellum to Simple Reaction Time Following Temporally-structured Cues. Human Brain Mapping, 27(7), 552-561. 
  • Woodruff CC, Johnson J, Uncapher M, Rugg M (2005). Content-specificity of the neural correlates of recollection. Neuropsychologia, 43(7), 1022-1032. 
  • Kovacevic S, Qualls C, Adair JC, Hudson D, Woodruff CC, Knoefel J, Lee RR, Stephen JM, Aine CJ (2005). Age-related effects on superior temporal gyrus activity during an auditory oddball task. Neuroreport. Jul 13;16(10):1075-9. 
  • Aine C, Adair J, Knoefel J, Hudson D, Qualls C, Kovacevic S, Woodruff CC, Cobb W, Padilla D, Lee R, Stephen J (2005). Temporal dynamics of age-related differences in auditory incidental verbal learning. Cognitive Brain Research, 24(1): 1-18. 

Courses

Psychology 255 - Introduction to Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience 
Psychology 350 – Physiological Psychology
Psychology 650 – Physiological Psychology
Psychology 432 – Psychophysiology of Drugs and Behavior