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Simon Wilton Davis

Associate Professor in Neurology
Neurology, Behavioral Neurology
DUMC Box 2900, Bryan Research Building, Rm 227E, Durham, NC 27708
B243Q LSRC, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


My research centers around the use of structural and functional imaging measures to study the shifts in network architecture in the aging brain. I am specifically interested in changes in how changes in structural and functional connectivity associated with aging impact the semantic retrieval of word or fact knowledge. Currently this involves asking why older adults have particular difficulty in certain kinds of semantic retrieval, despite the fact that vocabularies and knowledge stores typically improve with age.

A second line of research involves asking questions about how this semantic system is organized in young adults, understanding which helps form a basis for asking questions about older adults. To what degree are these semantic retrieval processes lateralized? What cognitive factors affect this laterality? How are brain structures like the corpus callosum involved in mediating distributed activation patterns associated with semantic retrieval? 

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Associate Professor in Neurology · 2024 - Present Neurology, Behavioral Neurology, Neurology
Associate Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences · 2024 - Present Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Medicine & Neurosciences, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Associate Professor in Pathology · 2024 - Present Pathology, Clinical Science Departments
Associate Professor in Psychology and Neuroscience · 2024 - Present Psychology & Neuroscience, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience · 2016 - Present Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

Education, Training & Certifications


Duke University · 2011 Ph.D.