Natalia Ladyka-Wojcik, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Rotman Research Institute
About Me
My name is Natalia (she/her) and I am an NSERC-funded postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Jennifer D. Ryan's lab at the Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences. I use behavioural, computational, and neuroimaging tools to reveal the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support the interplay between what we see and what we remember.I completed my PhD in Psychology in Dr. Morgan Barense's Memory & Perception Lab at the University of Toronto in 2023, after which I was a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Maureen Ritchey's Memory Modulation Lab at Boston College in 2024.
Natalia Ladyka-Wojcik, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Rotman Research Institute
Publications
Effective connectivity between the medial temporal lobes and early visual cortex modulated by unrestricted viewing predicts memory retrieval and gaze reinstatement
Ladyka‐Wojcik, N.*, Liu, Z.-X.*, & Ryan, J.D. (2025). Effective connectivity between the medial temporal lobes and early visual cortex modulated by unrestricted viewing predicts memory retrieval and gaze reinstatement. Imaging Neuroscience, 3, IMAG.a.133. https://doi.org/10.1162/IMAG.a.133
*co-first authorship
Neural signatures of recollection are sensitive to memory quality and specific event features
Ladyka‐Wojcik, N.*, Schmidt, H*, Cooper, R.A., & Ritchey, M. (2025). Neural signatures of recollection are sensitive to memory quality and specific event features. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 37(10), 1757-1773. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocna02335
*co-first authorship
Surveying the neuroimager's connectivity toolbox: Comment on "Connectivity analyses for task-based fMRI" by Huang, De Brigard, Cabeza, & Davis
Ladyka‐Wojcik, N. & Ritchey, M. (2024). Surveying the neuroimager's connectivity toolbox: Comment on "Connectivity analyses for task-based fMRI" by Huang, De Brigard, Cabeza, & Davis. Physics of Life Reviews, 51, 101-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2024.09.012
Experience transforms crossmodal object representations in the anterior temporal lobes
Li, A. Y., Ladyka‐Wojcik, N., Qazilbash, H., Golestani, A., Walther, D. B., Martin, C. B., & Barense, M. D. (2024). Experience transforms crossmodal object representations in the anterior temporal lobes. eLife, 13, e83382. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.83382
Impaired perceptual discrimination of complex objects in older adults at risk for dementia
Jiang, L., Robin, J., Shing, N., Mazloum‐Farzaghi, N., Ladyka‐Wojcik, N., Balakumar, N., ... & Olsen, R. K. (2024). Impaired perceptual discrimination of complex objects in older adults at risk for dementia. Hippocampus, 34(4), 197-203. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.23598
Sleep differentially and profoundly impairs recall memory in a patient with fornix damage
Matorina, N., Tseng, J., Ladyka-Wojcik, N., Olsen, R. K., Mabbott, D. J., & Barense M. D. (2023). Recollection and prior knowledge recruit the left angular gyrus during recognition. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 35(10), 1635-1655. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocna02038
Recollection and prior knowledge recruit the left angular gyrus during recognition
Bellana, B., Ladyka-Wojcik, N., Lahan, S., Moscovitch, M., & Grady, C. L. (2023). Recollection and prior knowledge recruit the left angular gyrus during recognition. Brain Structure and Function, 228, 197-217. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-022-02597-5
Unrestricted eye movements strengthen causal connectivity from hippocampal to oculomotor regions during scene construction
Ladyka-Wojcik, N.*, Liu, Z.-X.*, & Ryan, J. D. (2022). Unrestricted eye movements strengthen causal connectivity from hippocampal to oculomotor regions during scene construction. NeuroImage, 260, 119497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119497
*co-first authorship
The influence of cerebrovascular pathology on cluster analysis of neuropsychological scores in patients with mild cognitive impairment
Romero, K.*, Ladyka-Wojcik, N.*, Heir, A., Bellana, B., Leach, L., & Proulx, G. B. (2022). The association between visual discrimination and cognitive decline prior to clinical diagnosis. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 37(7), 1480-1492. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acac043
*co-first authorship
Flexible use of spatial frames of reference for object-location memory in older adults
Ladyka-Wojcik, N., Olsen, R.K., Ryan, J.D., & Barense, M.D. (2021). Flexible Use of Spatial Frames of Reference for Object-Location Memory in Older Adults. Brain Sciences, 11(11), 1542. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11111542
The influence of prior knowledge on the formation of detailed and durable memories
Bellana, B., Mansour, R., Ladyka-Wojcik, N., Grady, C. L., & Moscovitch, M. (2021). The influence of prior knowledge on the formation of detailed and durable memories. Journal of Memory and Language, 121, 104264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2021.104264
Reframing spatial frames of reference: What can aging tell us about egocentric and allocentric navigation?
Ladyka‐Wojcik, N., & Barense, M. D. (2021). Reframing spatial frames of reference: What can aging tell us about egocentric and allocentric navigation?. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, e1549. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1549
Giving evolution its due in memory systems research
Ladyka-Wojcik, N.*, Bouffard, N.R.*, Barense, M.D., Giving evolution its due in memory systems research (2019). [Invited review of the book Evolution of Memory Systems, by Murray, E., Wise, S., & Graham, K.] Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 72(5), 1282-1283S, https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021819832227
*co-first authorship
Preprints
Novelty discrimination of configural objects in the perirhinal and anterolateral entorhinal cortices is impacted by aging
Ladyka-Wojcik, N., Liang, J.Y, Allen, S.D., Ryan, J.D., Olsen, R.K., & Barense, M.D. (under review). Novelty discrimination of configural objects in the perirhinal and anterolateral entorhinal cortices is impacted by aging. Preprint: https://osf.io/prdh9_v1
Natalia Ladyka-Wojcik, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Rotman Research Institute
Teaching Experience
Course Instructor
PSY201 Introduction to Statistics
Duties: Developed materials for second-year introductory course in statistics for psychology, designed assignments and exams, lectured bi-weekly in-person, supervised team of teaching assistants
Semesters: Summer 2022PSY493 Cognitive Neuroscience
Duties: Developed materials for fourth-year advanced course in cognitive neuroscience, designed assignments and exams, lectured weekly in-person, supervised teaching assistant
Semesters: Fall 2021
Teaching Assistant
PSY100 Introduction to Psychology
Duties: Grading, exam invigilation, office hours, monitoring discussion board
Semesters: Fall 2021, Winter 2023, Fall 2023PSY202 Introduction to Statistics II
Guest Lecture: Repeated-Measures analysis of variance (ANOVA)
Duties: Tutorial instructor, grading, exam invigilation, office hours
Semesters: Winter 2019, Summer 2019, Summer 2020, Summer 2021PSY240 Introduction to Abnormal Psychology
Guest lecture: Dissociative and Somatic Symptom Disorders
Duties: Exam grading, exam writing, exam invigilation, office hours
Semesters: Fall 2019, Winter 2021PSY260 Learning & Plasticity
Duties: Writing Intensive Teaching (WIT) paper grading, exam grading
Semesters: Fall 2021, Fall 2023PSY270 Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Guest lectures: (1) Visual Imagery, (2) Everyday Memory and Memory Mistakes
Duties: Writing Intensive Teaching (WIT) paper grading, exam grading, exam invigilation, office hours
Semesters: Fall 2018, Winter 2021, Winter 2023, Summer 2023PSY305 The Treatment of Psychological Data
Guest Lecture: Panel host on graduate student life and research
Duties: Grading, exam invigilation, office hours, monitoring discussion board
Semesters: Winter 2022PSY372 Human Memory
Guest lectures: (1) Memory Across the Lifespan, (2) Introduction to Scientific Writing
Duties: Exam & paper grading, office hours
Semesters: Winter 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2022