
Amy Silvestri Hunter, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Psychology
(973) 275-2707
Email
Jubilee Hall
Room 359
Amy Silvestri Hunter, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Psychology
The primary goal of my research is to better understand the relationship between sleep and learning and memory processes. More specifically, I am attempting to determine how rapid eye movement (REM) sleep affects a phenomenon called extinction. This is the process by which an organism learns that two stimuli which were previously paired (e.g., a light and food pellet) are no longer related; that is, one no longer predicts the occurrence of the other. One reason that I find this line of research particularly interesting is because of its applications to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It has been suggested that PTSD is caused in part by a failure of extinction. Individuals with PTSD also have well-documented sleep disturbances. I believe that my work will help to shed light on the mechanisms of PTSD.
I have been at Seton Hall University since 2003. Courses that I frequently teach include Biological Psychology (and lab), Research Methods, and Psychopharmacology (graduate). Prior to my arrival, I spent three years as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne. From 1997-2000, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, where I conducted research on the neural mechanisms of sleep and emotion.
Education
- Ph.D., University of Vermont, 1997
- M.A., University of Vermont, 1994
- B.A., Salve Regina University, 1991
Scholarship
- Hunter, A.S., & Meshkati, N. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the perceptions of graduating psychology majors: Reasons for choosing the major, valuable experiences, and suggestions for change. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000232
- Hunter, A.S. (2019). Short-term REM deprivation does not affect acquisition or reversal of a spatial learning task. Behavioural Processes. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103985
- Howard, K.A. & Hunter. A.S. (2019). Immediate and long-lasting cognitive consequences of adolescent chronic sleep restriction. Behavioral Neuroscience. doi: 10.1037/bne0000312
- Hunter, A.S. (2018). REM deprivation but not sleep fragmentation produces a sex-specific impairment in extinction. Physiology and Behavior, 196, 84-94. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.08.008
- Hunter, A.S. & Lloyd, M.E. (2018). Faculty discuss study strategies, but not the best ones: A survey of suggested exam preparation techniques for difficult courses across disciplines. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 4(2), 105-114. doi: 10.1037/stl10000107
- Hunter, A.S. (2015). Impaired extinction of fear conditioning after REM deprivation is magnified by rearing in an enriched environment. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 122, 11-18. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2015.01.003
- "The effects of social housing on extinction of fear conditioning in rapid eye movement sleep deprived rats." Experimental Brain Research, 232(5), 1459-67. doi: 10.1007/s00221-014-3828-x, May 2014.
- Effects of REM deprivation and an NMDA agonist on the extinction of conditioned fear." Physiology and Behavior, 93, 274- 281, August 2008.
- "REM sleep deprivation affects extinction of cued but not contextual conditioning." Physiology and Behavior, 84(3), 343- 349, May 2005.
Accomplishments
Grants and Awards
- Seton Hall Faculty Teacher of the Year, 2014
- Psychology Professor of the Year, awarded by the Seton Hall chapter of Psi Chi, 2012
- Provost's Faculty Scholarship Award: Journal article publication (2008)
- Provost's Summer Research Fellowship, Summer 2005, Project title: REM Sleep Deprivation and Learning: Neurobiological Mechanisms
- Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Summer 2008, with Jessica Nicaretta (undergraduate student); Project title: Effects of REM Sleep Deprivation on Spatial Memory: Data Analysis