Visiting Assistant Professor, Psychology

Office phone: (716) 375-2498
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De La Roche Hall 100D 

• PSYC-420M. Neuropsychology: Therapeutic Psychedelic Drugs, Special Topics
• BNS 401. Behavioral Neuroscience Senior Seminar
• PSYC 486. Independent Study in Physiological Psychology
• PSYC 420X. Consciousness & the Brain, Special Topics
• PSYC 343. Physiological Psychology
• PSYC 315. Animal Behavior
• PSYC 222. Learning & Memory
• PSYC 201. Psyc Research: Methods & Statistics I (lecture & lab)
• PSYC 202 Lab. Psyc Research: Methods & Statistics II
• PSYC 102. Intro to Biopsychology
• PSYC 101. Intro to Psychology
• BIO 135. Intro to Biotechnology (with lab)
• BIO 101. Fundamentals of Biology (lecture and lab)

• Ph.D., Psychology, Queen’s University, 2015
• M.Sc., Psychology, Queen’s University, 2008
• B.A., Double Major in Cognitive Science and Information Science, State University of New York at Oswego (NY), 2006

• Visiting Assistant Professor, St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure NY, 2019-present
• Visiting Assistant Professor, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX, 2018-2019
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Oswego State University of New York, 2012-2014
• Teaching Fellow, Queen’s University, 2011-2012
• Teaching Assistant, Queen’s University, 2006-2012

Grants

• NYS Parks & Trail Partnership Grant, Hager (Primary Writer), 1/05/2024 – 2/01/2025; Homestead Trail DEI Expansion; $239,564 awarded to Boutwell Hill Ski Club, Inc.
• Keenan Grant, Hager (PI), 6/01/2023 – 5/01/2024; St. Bonaventure University Internal Keenan Grant, school collaboration to train faculty in providing focus mindfulness activities in-class to promote student well-being and facilitate mental health; $3,750
• NYS Parks & Trail Partnership Grant, Hager (Primary Writer), 8/15/2023 – 8/15/2024; Capacity and Organizational Effectiveness Grant, Strategic Plan: Building the Future for CCETS, Inc.; $68,000 awarded to CCETS, Inc., Chautauqua County Equestrian Trail System, Inc.
• Mental Wellness Grant, Hager (Program Director), 10/15/2021 – 9/01/2022; Cattaraugus Regional Community Foundation regional award, Mindful Wellness Program Series; $1,075 awarded to the Olean Meditation Center.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

• Hager AM, Gagolewicz PJ, Rodier S, Kuo M-C, Dumont EC and Dringenberg HC. 2015. Metaplastic up-regulation of LTP in the rat visual cortex by monocular visual training: Requirement of task mastery, hemispheric specificity, and NMDA-GluN2B involvement. Neuroscience, 293, 171-186. doi 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.02.027.
• Hager AM and Dringenberg HC. 2012. Design of a noninvasive face-mask for ocular occlusion in rats and assessment in a visual discrimination paradigm. Behavior Research Methods, 44, 919-923. doi 10.3758/s13428-012-0219-8.
• Hager AM and Dringenberg HC. 2010. Training-induced plasticity in the visual cortex of adult rats following visual discrimination learning. Learning and Memory, 17, 394-401. doi 10.1101/lm.1787110.
• Hager AM and Dringenberg HC. 2010 Assessment of different induction protocols to elicit long-term depression (LTD) in the rat visual cortex in vivo. Brain Research, 1318, 33-41. doi 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.12.063.

I am interested in examining how neurofeedback training using EEG can be used to promote neuroplasticity and improve attention, focus, memory and other cognitive functions.

In addition, I am interested in examining how mindfulness meditation alters the brain to result in the positive outcomes of increased feelings of wellbeing, decreased stress, increased attention and focus among the many other positive benefits.

If there is a science outreach event nearby, I will likely be there. I regularly participate in hands-on science outreach events that engage the community to learn more about psychology and the brain. In addition, I have presented workshops to the community on the topics of "The teenage brain" and "Adolescent Alcohol Use."

I also enjoy judging science fairs and inspiring K-12 students to question and think critically about the world around them.

ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
I love how the brain, psychology and neuroscience research can give rise to powerful insights into behavior. I impart this enthusiasm and love of science to inspire undergraduate students to question and understand their own behavior and the neurobiological functioning within themselves.

I received my B.A. double majoring in cognitive science and information science with honors from the State University of New York at Oswego. I decided to follow my passion for learning and received an M.S. (2008) and Ph.D. (2015) in psychology, concentrating in the field of behavioral neuroscience from Queen’s University, located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

My early research involved examining the neurobiological mechanisms responsible for processes of visual learning and memory, where I discovered a novel form of metaplasticity in the visual system. During the last two years of my graduate work, I was a visiting assistant professor in the Psychology Department at Oswego State, teaching undergraduate courses in research methods and biopsychology.

The promise of excellent research and warmth all year round drew me to San Antonio, Texas, where I completed postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Health Science Center in the Department of Cellular & Integrative Physiology under the mentorship of Michael Beckstead, Ph.D., and Lynette Daws, Ph.D. As a trainee with the Addiction Research Treatment & Training Center of Excellence, I applied my knowledge of biological mechanisms relating to neuroplasticity to the study of how the brain is altered with addiction.

I was awarded an F32 grant in 2017 to examine how cocaine alters different dopamine neuron pathways of the midbrain. Continuing to follow my interests in teaching, I taught at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, in 2018 in the Department of Biological Sciences, where I expanded my research to include human participants, leading the Neuroplasticity Neurofeedback Lab and mentoring undergraduate student research projects involving the use of EEG.

At St. Bonaventure, I am excited to be inspiring the next generation of scientists and critical thinkers and preparing current undergraduate students to be successful in their chosen careers!

See my complete CV