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 a focus on 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, where she currently serves as a Teaching Professor. 

Dr. Festa's research investigates how perception, attention, and memory change across the lifespan, with a focus on aging and Alzheimer’s disease. She is particularly interested in how the brain integrates sensory information, directs attention, and supports memory under conditions of uncertainty. Her work uses multimodal methods, including eye tracking, pupillometry, and EEG, to study the brain systems that regulate attention and arousal, such as the locus coeruleus–norepinephrine system. Current projects aim to identify early markers of Alzheimer’s disease, understand how early life adversity and protective factors like education contribute to resilience in aging, and apply these insights to real-world challenges such as driving safety and situation awareness in complex environments.