Barbara Blatchley: Neuroscientist Bridging Psychology and Cognitive Research

Barbara Blatchley, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, where she co-founded the college's neuroscience program. Her academic background centers on sensory system development and perceptual processing, with particular emphasis on how early auditory experience shapes neural responses.

Blatchley earned her doctorate in experimental psychology from the University of South Carolina, where she focused on auditory system development. She subsequently completed postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the neurophysiology department, investigating how early auditory exposure influences ITD (interaural time difference) and IID (interaural intensity difference) responses in the inferior colliculus.

Beyond her laboratory work, Blatchley has positioned herself as a science communicator. She authored Statistics in Context, an introductory statistics textbook, and more recently What Are the Chances? Why We Believe in Luck, which explores the psychology underlying superstitious belief and probabilistic reasoning. Her recent published work through Psychology Today covers topics including memory consolidation during daydreaming, cognitive resilience in aging populations (the "super-ager" phenomenon), and the neurobiological basis of empathy and compassion.

At Agnes Scott, Blatchley mentors students in developing their own neuroscience research projects across diverse specializations. Her published articles address contemporary questions in cognitive science: how the brain segments experiences into discrete events to facilitate memory, the overlap between different types of long-term memory processing, and the role of leisure activities like reading in cognitive longevity.

Her work reflects a broader institutional interest in connecting laboratory neuroscience to public understanding of psychological phenomena. The range of her recent publications—from aging and memory to dreaming and social emotions—suggests a scholar navigating the gap between specialized research and accessible explanation of how the brain functions.