Biography
Lab Website: https://sciences.ucf.edu/psychology/lighthalllab/
Dr. Nichole Lighthall is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Human Factors and Cognitive program. She holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in gerontology from the University of Southern California. Before coming to the University of Central Florida, Dr. Lighthall worked as a postdoc in the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. The goal of her research is to develop a neural model of decision processing in human aging that can be used to identify age-related vulnerabilities and pathways to compensation. She is particularly interested in how age-related changes to cognitive and affective components of decision making impact decision processing and quality. In conducting this research, the Lighthall Lab utilizes an array of methodological approaches including cognitive tasks, manipulations of emotion and task difficulty, biomarker sampling, computational modeling, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Considering Human Factors and Cognitive Psychology Ph.D. Program applicants for Fall 2025.
Recent Publications
Doheny, M., Lighthall, NR. (2023). Social cognitive neuroscience in the digital age. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 17: 1168788.
Wan X, Lighthall NR, Xie R. (2022). Consistent and robust predictors of Internet use among older adults over time identified by machine learning. Computers in Human Behavior, 137, 107413.
Conner L, Horta M, Ebner NC, Lighthall NR. (2021). Value network engagement and effects of memory related
processing during encoding and retrieval of value. Brain and Cognition, 152, 105754.
Lighthall NR. (2020). Neural mechanisms of decision making in aging. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 11 (1), e1519.
Lighthall NR, Pearson JM, Huettel, SA, Cabeza, R. (2018). Feedback-based learning in aging: Contributions and trajectories of change in striatal and hippocampal systems. Journal of Neuroscience, 38 (39), 8453-8462.
Active Grants
Characterizing and modulating neurocognitive processes of learning to trust and distrust in
aging (Lighthall: MPI, NIH R01-AG072658, 03/01/22-04/30/27):
- The goal of this project is to
characterize the psychological and neural mechanisms that support trust-related learning and decision making in normal aging and older adults at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. The project also seeks to determine if trust-related decision making can be optimized in aging via fMRI-based real-time neurofeedback training. This study is being conducted in collaboration with MPIs Dr. Natalie Ebner (University of Florida) and Dr. Bob Wilson (University of Arizona).- Project awarded NIH Diversity Supplement (R01-AG072658-01A1S1) to support Dr. Marilyn
Horta (UF Research Scientist) to work on the parent grant.
- Project awarded NIH Diversity Supplement (R01-AG072658-01A1S1) to support Dr. Marilyn
Florida consortium to reduce misinformation and exploitation in Alzheimer’s Disease (Lighthall: PI, FL Dept. Health 22A10, 04/01/22-03/31/26):
- Led by our lab at UCF, this three-university consortium (with University of Florida under Dr. Natalie Ebner and University of Miami under Dr. Bonnie Levin), examines cognitive and neural mechanisms of vulnerability to deception among ethnically and racially diverse older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. This project’s second major aim is to leverage our empirical data to develop a tool kit that can detect risk for exploitation in older adults.
Optimizing a technology-based body and mind intervention to prevent falls and reduce health disparities in low-income populations (Lighthall: Co-I, NIH R01-MD018025, 09/26/20-06/30/26):
- This project led by Dr. Ladda Thiamwong (PI, UCF Nursing) will test the usability and efficacy of the technology-based Physio-feedback Exercise program (PEER) intervention as a method to reduce fall risk and improve self-perceptions of aging among diverse low-income older adults. Within this project, the Lighthall Lab will contribute to the assessment of psychological factors that contribute to fall risk.
- Project awarded NIH DEIA Mentorship Supplement (NIMHD-NIH, R01MD018025-02S1) to
support junior researchers from DEIA backgrounds to work and train under the parent grant.
- Project awarded NIH DEIA Mentorship Supplement (NIMHD-NIH, R01MD018025-02S1) to
Measuring uncertainty mechanisms with fNIRS (Lighthall: PI, AFRL Minority Leaders Research
Collaboration Program (subaward through Ohio State University), 06/01/2023-05/31/2025):
- This project seeks to identify neural correlates of uncertainty comprehension during decision processing using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and test the impact of interventions to improve comprehension of uncertainty.
Research Network on Decision Neuroscience and Aging (Lighthall: MPI, NIH R24AG076847,
06/15/22-03/31/27):
- The long-term goal of this network is to conduct integrative and multidisciplinary research that contributes directly to interventions aimed at improving health and well-being in the daily lives of aging adults.
Enhancing controlled social feedback manipulations in cognition and health research with
Digital Twins (Lighthall: PI, UCF College of Sciences Seed Grant, 02/03/23-02/02/24):
- In collaboration with Dr. Roger Azevedo (Co-PI, UCF School of Modeling Simulation and Training), this project seeks to develop 3D avatars that can be used to enhance the ecological validity of research paradigms to examine trust-related decision making and interventions for positive health behaviors.
