Alexandra Watral
Papers
1
Total Citations
2
H-Index
1
About
Alexandra Watral investigates the intersection of cognitive aging and sensorimotor control, with a primary focus on how executive functions decline with age. Her work challenges traditional neuropsychological assessments by demonstrating that standard tests often conflate cognitive processes with sensory and motor demands. In her most-cited study, "Measuring age differences in executive control using rapid motor decisions in a robotic object hit and avoid task" (2021), she developed a novel robotic paradigm to isolate cognitive contributions from sensorimotor noise. This approach revealed that age-related deficits in executive control may be overestimated when sensorimotor factors are not accounted for—a finding with significant implications for designing more precise diagnostic tools for aging populations. Though her citation count is still growing, her methodological innovation has been recognized for bridging robotics and cognitive neuroscience. Watral’s work is particularly valuable for researchers studying healthy aging, as it provides a framework to disentangle cognitive decline from natural motor slowing, ultimately contributing to more accurate assessments of executive function in older adults.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1