Inge-Marie Eigsti, Ph.D.
Affiliation
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269
860.486.6021
I am affiliated with the Institute for Brain and Cognitive Sciences (IBACS), Haskins Labs, and with the UCONN NSF Training Grant (IGERT) on Language Plasticity.
Education
2001 University of Rochester. Dual Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Brain and Cognitive Sciences
2000 M.A. (Clinical Psychology), University of Rochester
1999 M.A. (Brain and Cognitive Sciences), University of Rochester
1993 A.B cum laude (Linguistics), The University of Chicago
Research interests
Our research addresses a fundamental challenge in ASD: how to map complex behavioral constructs, such as social communication deficits, onto mechanistic processes in the brain. We primarily target low-level (and particularly non-social) cognitive processes, such as working memory and auditory processing, that may not be specific to the ASD diagnosis, but that can be linked to genetic, neurophysiological or neuroanatomical domains, and that impact socio-communicative behavior. The aim is to better understand the pathology of ASD by linking research at the molecular level (genetics), at the neurofunctional level (brain imaging), and at the behavioral level (symptomatology): We aim to connect complex behaviors to underlying genetic mechanisms. Click on the “projects” link for more detail on current research projects.
Representative Publications
Recent publications (*indicates publication with graduate student). Click on the link to download.
Schuh, J. M., Eigsti, I. M., & Mirman, D. (in press). Referential communication in autism spectrum disorder: The roles of working memory and theory of mind. Autism Research.
Srinivasan, S. M., Eigsti, I. M., Neelly, L., & Bhat, A. N. (in press). The effects of embodied rhythm and robotic interventions on the social attention patterns of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Srinivasan, S. M., Eigsti, I. M., Gifford, T., & Bhat, A. N. (in press). The effects of embodied rhythm and robotic interventions on the spontaneous and responsive verbal communication skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A further outcome of a pilot randomized controlled trial. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Eigsti, I. M., & de Marchena, A. (in press). Perspectives on gesture from autism spectrum disorder: Alterations in timing and function. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.