William Fishbein

Degree/Date: B.S. 1961
Institution: New York University
Specialization: Biology

Degree/Date: M.A. 1964
Institution: New York University
Specialization: Psychology

Degree/Date: Ph.D. 1969
Institution: University of Colorado
Specialization: Clinical Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience

The neurobiology of learning and memory with particular interest in examining the role sleep, and its various stages, plays in facilitating the consolidation and maintenance of memory. In past years the research centered in animal experiments (rodents) employing chemical and electrical interventions. Presently I head-up the Laboratory of Neuroscience and Sleep in which a variety of human studies are underway examining various aspects of sleep and its importance in memory storage processes.

Professional Activities: As head of the laboratory I spend much of my time working with students to develop experimental ideas for their research studies, supervising the ongoing aspects of data collection and work closely with statistical analyses and writing manuscripts for publication. My job is also finding the grant funds to support the research. A weekly laboratory meeting has been an ongoing activity for many years in which students working in the lab discuss their projects and together we review, each week, recent (and sometimes old) published studies centering around our interests in sleep and memory.

Current Projects: Present studies center on the influence of daytime naps in facilitating different forms of learned experiences, specifically declarative and nondeclarative (procedural) information. Other studies center on the role sleep plays in the remembrance of emotional and relational forms of memory.