טלפון: 04-8288429
פנימי: (58052, 58432, 58429)
משרד: 283, בניין חינוך ומדעים
שעות קבלה: יום ב׳, 11:00-12:00, בתיאום מראש
אודות
פרופ' אבי קרני, MD, PhD הוא נוירולוג מומחה וחוקר בתחום מדעי המוח (נוירוביולוגיה). בנוסף לתפקידו כמשנה לדיקן בית הספר לרפואה ע"ש הרטה ופול עמיר, פרופ' קרני הוא ראש המעבדה לחקר מוח האדם והלמידה, השייכת למרכז אדמונד ספרא לחקר המוח בלקויות למידה, הפקולטה לחינוך ולחוג סגול לנוירוביולוגיה, הפקולטה למדעי הטבע באוניברסיטת חיפה.
תחומי מחקר
המחקר במעבדה לחקר מוח האדם והלמידה (HBL) של פרופ' אבי קרני, עוסק במנגנונים המוחיים ובמגבלות הנוירו- התנהגותיות העומדים בבסיס תהליכי פלסטיסיות במוח האנושי, כלומר, תהליכי למידה ויצירת זיכרון ארוך טווח. באופן ספציפי יותר, אנו עוסקים בחקר תהליך הרכישה והגיבוש של מיומנויות (מידע מסוג "איך לעשות?" זיכרון פרוצדוראלי), הן בקרב אנשים בריאים והן בקרב אנשים עם לקויות נוירולוגיות מולדות או נרכשות.
המחקר במעבדה מתמקד בשני תחומים מרכזיים של יכולות אנושיות: (1) רכישה של מיומנויות מוטוריות, הן כתוצאה מביצוע בפועל והן כתוצאה מצפיה (action observation) וכן רכישה של מיומנויות אוריינות.
(2) שימוש בשפה- המחקרים בתחום זה עוסקים בלמידה של "מיני שפה" מומצאת, שפותחה במעבדה וגיבוש כללים מלאכותיים שנרכשו בתהליך הלמידה שלה. בנוסף, אנו מסתכלים על האופן שבו למידת השפה החדשה נרכשת בהקשר לשפת האם של הלומד.
תחום מחקר נוסף במעבדתנו עוסק בתפקידה של השינה בהקשר לקידום תהליכי למידה ובחשיבותם של תהליכים צירקדיים (circadian processes) בשיפור יכולות קוגניטיביות ואוריניות בקרב אנשים עם לקויות למידה התפתחותיות, בקרב מבוגרים ובקרב ילדים דוברי ערבית כשפת אם. במעבדתנו נעשה שימוש בניתוח נתונים התנהגותיים (זמן ביצוע, מדדי דיוק) ובטכנולוגיות שונות לדימות מוחית (fMRI, EEG, FNIRS)
פרסומים
Pruss S, Karni A, Prior A. (2025). Self-reference promotes vocabulary learning in a foreign language. Psychon Bull Rev. 32(5):2104-2113. doi: 10.3758/s13423-025-02674-w. Epub 2025 Mar 19.PMID: 40108075
Hayek M, Dorfberger S, Eviatar Z, Karni A. (2025). Transcoding number words to typed multi-digit numerals: revisiting the strange case in Arabic bilinguals. Psychol Res. 89(2): doi: 10.1007/s00426-025-02097-1.PMID: 40082282
Hayek M, Karni A, Eviatar Z. (2024). The effect of inverting decades and units on the retention of two-digit numbers in working memory: a matter of the output mode. Psychol Res.;89(1):2. doi: 10.1007/s00426-024-02046-4.PMID: 39527318
Sacher Y, Shaklai S, Karni A, Cismariu-Potash K. (2024). DISSOCIATION BETWEEN DECLERATIVE AND PROCEDURAL MEMORY IN PATIENTS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. Harefuah; 163(9):558-563.PMID: 39285594
Lowenscuss-Erlich I, Karni A, Gal C, Vakil E. (2024). Different delayed consequences of attaining a plateau phase in practicing a simple (finger-tapping sequence learning) and a complex (Tower of Hanoi puzzle) task. Mem Cognit.;53(3):960-973. doi: 10.3758/s13421-024-01622-8. Epub 2024 Sep 3.PMID: 39227551
Oren Y, Korman M, Karni A.(2024). Paradoxical Long-term Memory Augmentation following Temporal Pairing between "Limited" and "Extensive" Motor Sequence Training Experiences. J Cogn Neurosci.;36(12):2807-2821. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_02186.PMID: 38739558
Maaravi-Hesseg R, Cohen S, Karni A.(2024). Sequence-specific delayed gains in motor fluency evolve after movement observation training in the absence of early sleep. Sci Rep. 2024 Feb 18;14(1):4024. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53004-4.PMID: 38369529
Leizerowitz GM, Gabai R, Plotnik M, Keren O, Karni A. (2023). Improving old tricks as new: Young adults learn from repeating everyday activities. PLoS One.;18(5):e0285469. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285469. eCollection 2023.PMID: 37167235
9. Yafit Gabay, Avi Karni & Lori L Holt. (2023). Memory for incidentally learned categories evolves in the post-learning interval.Elife, 12, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81855
10. Ghanamah R., Eghbaria-Ghanamah H, Karni A. & Adi-Japha E (2023). Dot-to-dot practice enhances Children's handwriting: The advantage of a multi-session training protocol. Learning and Instruction, 86, doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2023.101756
Eghbaria-Ghanamah H., Ghanamah R., Shalhoub-Awwad Y., Adi-Japha E. & Karni A. (2022). Long-Term Benefits After a Rhyme-Repetition Based Intervention Program for Kindergarteners: Better Reading and Spelling in the First Grade. Developmental Psychology, 58(2), 252-269, doi: 10.1037/dev0001284.supp1470-1482
12. Ghanamah R., Eghbaria-Ghanamah H, Adi-Japha E & Karni A (2022). Not for kids: 2nd grade school children require more practice than adults to attain long-term gains in a graphomotor task. Cognitive development, 16, doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2022.101246
13. Avraham E, Sacher Y, Maaravi-Hesseg R, Karni A, Doron R. (2022). Skill-learning by observation-training with patients after traumatic brain injury. Front Hum Neurosci.;16:940075. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.940075. eCollection 2022.PMID: 36118978
14. Ghanamah R, Eghbaria-Ghanamah H, Karni A, Adi-Japha E.(2022). Practice schedule and testing per se affect children's transfer abilities in a grapho-motor task. J Exp Child Psychol.;215:105323. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105323. Epub 2021 Dec 1.PMID: 34864374
15. Sindiani M., Korman M. & Karni A. (2022). Time-of-day matters in text learning and recall: Evening lessons are advantageous for adults with ADHD though not for typical peers. Learning and Instruction, 80, doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2022.101630
Theodor-Katz N., Somer E., Hesseg R.M. & Soffer-Dudek N. (2022) Could immersive daydreaming underlie a deficit in attention? The prevalence and characteristics of maladaptive daydreaming in individuals with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of clinical psychology, doi: 10.1002/jclp.23355
Yaseen Awad-Igbaria, Rinatia Maaravi-Hesseg, Roee Admon & Avi Karni (2022) Only tomorrow: Delayed effects of teacher's attitude on motor skill learning. Learning and Instruction, 82, doi: 101681
Willms S., Abel M., Karni A., Gal C., Doyon J., King B. R., Classen J., Rumpf J-J., Buccino G., Pellicano A., Klann J. & Binkofski F. (2021). Motor sequence learning in patients with ideomotor apraxia: Effects of long-term training. Neuropsychologia, 159:107921, doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107921
Buffalo E., Courtney S. M., De Weerd P., Doyon J., Jiang Y., Karni A., Kastner S., Pessoa L., Rossi A. (2021). Lessons from Leslie: A Tribute to an Extraordinary Scientist and Mentor. Trends in neurosciences, 44(4), 241-243. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2021.02.002
Korman M., Gal C., Gabitov E. & Karni A. (2021). Better later: evening practice is advantageous for motor skill consolidation in the elderly. Learning and Memory 28(3), 72-75. doi: 10.1101/lm.052522.120
Eghbaria-Ghanamah H., Ghanamah R., Shalhoub-Awwad Y. & Karni A. (2021). Recitation as a structured intervention to enhance the long-term verbatim retention and gist recall of complex texts in kindergarteners. Journal of experimental child psychology, 203, doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105054
Zaltz, Y., Kishon-Rabin, L., Karni A., Ari-Even Roth, D. (2020). Practice Makes Transfer Imperfect: Evidence From Auditory Learning. Ear and hearing, 41(6) 1470-1482. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000860
Eghbaria-Ghanamah H., Ghanamah R., Shalhoub-Awwad Y., Adi-Japha E. & Karni A. (2020). Recitation and listening to nursery rhymes in the familiarization with a literacy language in kindergarteners: Not kids' stuff. Developmental Psychology, 56(12), 2195-2211. doi: 10.1037/dev0001124. Epub 2020 Oct 26
Ghanamah R., Eghbaria-Ghanamah H., Karni A. & Adi-Japha E. (2020). Too little, too much: A limited range of practice 'doses' is best for retaining grapho-motor skill in children. Learning and Instruction, 69. doi: 1016/j.learninstruc.2020.101351
Gal C., Gabitov E., Maaravi-Hesseg R., Karni A., Korman M. (2019). A Delayed Advantage: Multi-session Training at Evening Hours Leads to Better Long-term Retention of Motor Skill in the Elderly. Frontiers Aging Neuroscience. 22;11:321. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2019.00321. eCollection 2019
Ferman S., Kishon-Rabin L., Ganot-Budaga H. and Karni A. (2019) Deficits in Explicit Language Problem Solving Rather Than in Implicit Learning in Specific Language Impairment: Evidence From Learning an Artificial Morphological Rule. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 62(10):3790-3807. doi: 10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-17-0140
Korman M, Levy I, Maaravi-Hesseg R, Eshed-Mantel A, Karni A (2019). Subclinical Scores in Self-Report Based Screening Tools for Attention Deficits Correlate With Cognitive Traits in Typical Evening-Type Adults Tested in the Morning. Front Psychol. 2019 Jun 18;10:1397. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01397. eCollection 2019
Gabitov E, Boutin A, Pinsard B, Censor N, Fogel SM, Albouy G, King BR, Carrier J, Cohen LG, Karni A, Doyon J. (2019). Susceptibility of consolidated procedural memory to interference is independent of its active task-based retrieval. PLoS One.;14(1):e0210876. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210876. eCollection 2019.PMID: 30653576
Gabay Y, Karni A, Banai K.(2018). Learning to decipher time-compressed speech: Robust acquisition with a slight difficulty in generalization among young adults with developmental dyslexia. PLoS One.;13(10):e0205110. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205110. eCollection 2018.PMID: 30356320
Korman M, Shaklai S, Cisamariu K, Gal C, Maaravi-Hesseg R, Levy I, Keren O, Karni A, Sacher Y. (2018). Atypical Within-Session Motor Procedural Learning after Traumatic Brain Injury but Well-Preserved Between-Session Procedural Memory Consolidation. Front Hum Neurosci. 2018 Jan 30;12:10. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00010. eCollection 2018.PMID: 29441005
Rubinsten O, Karni A. (2017). Innateness of magnitude perception? Skill can be acquired and mastered at all ages. Behav Brain Sci.;40:e186. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X16002247.PMID: 29342640
Gabitov E, Boutin A, Pinsard B, Censor N, Fogel SM, Albouy G, King BR, Benali H, Carrier J, Cohen LG, Karni A, Doyon J. (2017). Re-stepping into the same river: competition problem rather than a reconsolidation failure in an established motor skill. Sci Rep.;7(1):9406. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-09677-1.PMID: 28839217
Korman M, Levy I, Karni A. (2017). Procedural Memory Consolidation in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Is Promoted by Scheduling of Practice to Evening Hours. Front Psychiatry ;8:140. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00140. eCollection 2017.PMID: 28824471
Gabay Y, Karni A, Banai K. (2017). The perceptual learning of time-compressed speech: A comparison of training protocols with different levels of difficulty. PLoS One.;12(5):e0176488. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176488. eCollection 2017.PMID: 28545039
Korman M, Herling Z, Levy I, Egbarieh N, Engel-Yeger B, Karni A. (2017). Background matters: Minor vibratory stimulation during motor skill acquisition selectively reduces off-line memory consolidation. Neurobiol Learn Mem.;140:27-32. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2017.02.002. Epub 2017 Feb 9.PMID: 2818955
Zohar-Shai B, Tzelgov J, Karni A, Rubinsten O. (2017). It does exist! A left-to-right spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect among native Hebrew speakers. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform.;43(4):719-728. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000336. Epub 2017 Feb 9.PMID: 28182477
Fox O, Adi-Japha E, Karni A. (2017). Motor memory consolidation processes in young female adults with ADHD may be less susceptible to interference. Neurosci Lett. 10;637:91-95. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.11.044. Epub 2016 Nov 22.PMID: 27888044
Fogel S, Vien C, Karni A, Benali H, Carrier J, Doyon J. (2017). Sleep spindles: a physiological marker of age-related changes in gray matter in brain regions supporting motor skill memory consolidation. Neurobiol Aging.;49:154-164. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2016.10.009. Epub 2016 Oct 11.PMID: 27815989
Rumpf JJ, Wegscheider M, Hinselmann K, Fricke C, King BR, Weise D, Klann J, Binkofski F, Buccino G, Karni A, Doyon J, Classen J. (2017). Enhancement of motor consolidation by post-training transcranial direct current stimulation in older people. Neurobiol Aging.;49:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2016.09.003. Epub 2016 Sep 13.PMID: 27723499
Albouy G, King BR, Schmidt C, Desseilles M, Dang-Vu TT, Balteau E, Phillips C, Degueldre C, Orban P, Benali H, Peigneux P, Luxen A, Karni A, Doyon J, Maquet P, Korman M. (2016). Cerebral Activity Associated with Transient Sleep-Facilitated Reduction in Motor Memory Vulnerability to Interference. Sci Rep. 2016 Oct 11;6:34948. doi: 10.1038/srep34948.PMID: 27725727
Maaravi Hesseg R, Gal C, Karni A. (2016). Not quite there: skill consolidation in training by doing or observing. Learn Mem ;23(5):189-94. doi: 10.1101/lm.041228.115. Print 2016 May.PMID: 27084926
השכלה
Medical Education
- M.D., Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel (1981)
Comprehensive medical training with specialization toward clinical neuroscience
Residency
- Residency in Neurology, Sheba Medical Center (Tel HaShomer), Israel
Board-certified neurologist with clinical training in neurological disorders, neurophysiology, and brain–behavior relationships
Doctoral Studies
- Ph.D. in Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel (1992)
Doctoral research focused on mechanisms of learning, neural plasticity, and brain–behavior interactions, combining behavioral paradigms with neuroscientific methods
Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, National Institutes of Health (NIH), United States
Conducted work in human brain function, learning, motor skill acquisition, and neuroplasticity using advanced neuroimaging and behavioral methods
