Cognitive and Psychological Sciences

Elena Festa received her A.B. in Psychology from the College of the Holy Cross and her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with an emphasis in visual psychophysics from Brown University. Following her NRSA-funded postdoctoral training in cognitive neuropsychology, she was appointed as an Assistant Professor (Research) in Brown University's Department of Psychology in 2005. In 2011, she joined the Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences as teaching faculty, where she currently serves as a Senior Lecturer. Dr. Festa's research focuses on the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying perception, memory, and attention, with an emphasis on sensory feature binding and selective attention in the context of healthy and pathological aging. Her recent work explores neurocognitive markers for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, risk and resilience mechanisms in aging, and interventions to enhance cognitive function in aging and dementia.