He is also interested in gerontology education and mechanisms for promoting intergenerational solidarity. Health problems of interest include injury, asthma, and cardiovascular risk factors. A secondary area of interest centers around psychological distress related to pain and chronic illnesses in children. His journal articles cover a range of historical topics. Recent papers have been on the discovery of cerebral dominance, the brain science behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the recognition of affective changes in multiple sclerosis.
Health problems investigated include asthma, cancer, diabetes, and smoking.
He is also director of the Division of Health Behavior Research in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics and associate director of the University's research centers in cancer and diabetes. In particular, she has developed one line of research that examines the role of developmental changes in processing speed on the development of working memory and higher level reasoning abilities. Other research projects include establishing behavioral evidence for brain-based ability differences in the processing of spatial and object information. The distinction is useful for better understanding age-related differences in memory performance, and for improved diagnosis and treatment of memory deficits. His research addresses questions about the role that expectancy plays in core hypnotic phenomena.