In a way, Dr. Bret Eschman’s path to cognitive neuroscience began on the football field.
During his time as a wide receiver on the football team at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, Eschman—now a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga assistant professor of psychology and director of the Visual Memory and Attention Development (VMAD) Lab—enrolled in an experimental psychology class.
“Dr. Jeremy Turner had one of the most productive research labs on campus,” Eschman recalled, “and I discovered I loved the process of asking big questions and finding answers through data.”
“The main reason I went to this very small liberal arts school in central Illinois was to play football, but I was captivated by Dr. Turner’s teaching.”
Eschman explained that Turner was conducting research on tinnitus—a condition that causes ringing in the ears—and, using “lab rats and cutting-edge technology,” he was developing ways to measure the severity of the condition through brainwave analysis.
“I had previously never considered research before, but after that semester, I asked him if he needed any help in the lab,” Eschman said. “That’s where it all clicked for me.”
That early enthusiasm for research became the foundation of a career that has taken Eschman to Missouri State University for a master’s degree, UT Knoxville for a doctoral degree, Florida International University for postdoctoral research—and UTC.
Now in his third year at the University, Eschman uses eye-tracking technology in the VMAD Lab to study how people perceive, pay attention and make decisions. His work spans all ages, but much of his focus is on infants and young children—with the goal of identifying early markers for cognitive, social or language delays.
Eye-tracking, he said, “provides a window into the mechanism leading to some type of behavior.” Infrared light reflects off a viewer’s eyes and back into a monitor, allowing researchers to track where someone is looking, how long they focus on an area and how their eyes move across a field of stimuli.
“What’s really interesting to me as a cognitive researcher is that we’re getting a glimpse under the hood of this process of deciding,” he explained. “We can see that play out in real-time with scan paths, how many comparisons they make, how long they dwell in a specific area, and how many times they come back.
“All these little metrics that we’re tracking afford us the opportunity to really tell a complete picture.”
He said the technology is ideal for developmental research because “it is non-invasive, making it easier to work with infants and children” who might otherwise struggle with traditional testing methods.
In one current VMAD Lab study, Eschman said eye-tracking is being used to measure how infants process multisensory information—such as matching a parent’s voice to their lip movements. This skill, he explained, is critical for language development and can reveal potential delays in social or cognitive growth.
Other current lab projects include exploring how chronic stress impacts adult attention and decision-making—and testing the efficacy of “bionic reading,” a typeface designed to improve comprehension for individuals with ADHD and dyslexia.
“These are the kinds of questions eye-tracking is uniquely equipped to answer,” Eschman said. “It gives us the tools to dig deeper into the cognitive processes that define how we learn and interact with the world.”
Eschman credits much of the VMAD Lab’s success to its collaborative nature, as students are encouraged to take ownership of projects.
He said one of his standout researchers is Bailee Smith—a second-year graduate student whose work focuses on the relationship between executive function and intelligence.
Smith explained that her research explores how cognitive processes like impulse control relate to intelligence, specifically examining how individuals manage distractions and switch between tasks.
“Executive function is how we process and navigate information,” said Smith, a 2020 graduate of South Pittsburg (Tennessee) High School and recipient of a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UTC in 2023. “I’m looking at how flexible we are, how well we can maintain attention and how those skills correlate with intelligence scores.”
Smith’s journey into the VMAD Lab began with a referral from another faculty member, Dr. David Ross, who recognized her overlapping research interests with Eschman. Since joining, she has taken on a central role in managing data collection, mentoring undergraduate students and helping to shape the lab’s research priorities.
“Bailee’s contributions have been phenomenal,” Eschman said. “Her dedication and leadership have made her an invaluable part of our team.”
For Smith, who aspires to be a professor and is currently applying for Ph.D. programs, the opportunity to work in a developing lab under Eschman’s mentorship has been both challenging and rewarding.
“I’ve been able to help design tasks, create projects and really build the lab alongside Dr. Eschman. That independence has been invaluable,” Smith said. “The support I’ve had here from Dr. Eschman and others has been incredible. It’s pushed me to grow both professionally and personally, and I feel prepared to take the next step in my career.”
Eschman said mentorship played a critical role in his academic journey.
He began his doctoral pursuit at East Tennessee State University working under Dr. Shannon Ross-Sheehy, whose primary research interests are in the co-development of visual attention and other cognitive systems.
Eschman said Ross-Sheehy shaped his career by teaching him both the technical skills and the broader theoretical frameworks needed for developmental research.
“Shannon’s mentorship was transformative,” Eschman said. “She showed me how to think critically about developmental science and how to design experiments that really matter.”
“Bret was my first graduate student, and he set the bar really high,” Ross-Sheehy recalled. “He was curious and driven … he had an amazing ‘can do’ attitude and was a joy to work with.”
When Ross-Sheehy landed a position at UT Knoxville after Eschman’s first year at ETSU, he followed her to continue his doctoral work—refining his focus on eye-tracking and working memory research.
“He was really interested in understanding the origin of individual differences,” Ross-Sheehy explained. “We were working together to try to find a task that allowed us to assess individual differences in babies, something that really hasn’t been done before. His dissertation explored that.
“It’s hard to get babies interested in staring at a computer screen for any length of time, but he came up with some really clever tasks to assess working memory in babies.”
Now that Eschman is mentoring his own students, Ross-Sheehy called it “fantastic” to see him following in her footsteps.
“On a personal level, I miss Bret all the time,” she said. “He was always the first one in the lab at both UT and at ETSU. Especially at UT—I’d arrive pretty early sometimes and I’d see the light on in the lab; he’d already be working.
“He definitely has his own ideas, though. He came to work with me because of his interest in individual differences. He really flourished learning those tools and how to study them, and I feel like he’s taken that knowledge and stretched it in new directions.”
As a postdoctoral researcher at Florida International University, Eschman investigated the effects of socioeconomic disparities on early cognitive development.
He said that one of his most striking findings was the role of maternal education in shaping children’s attention and memory skills. Eschman’s research has shown that children from lower-income households often lack access to the high-quality interactions and environmental stimulation necessary for building foundational cognitive abilities.
“It’s not just about money,” Eschman said. “It’s about opportunities—moments when caregivers can connect and engage in ways that support development.”
These disparities, he explained, have cascading effects. Without strong attention and memory skills, children are more likely to struggle with language acquisition, problem-solving and academic success later in life.
Eschman said he is committed to connecting his findings to the broader community. Parents who bring their children to the VMAD Lab often leave with practical advice, such as the importance of narrating daily activities to improve language development or engaging in face-to-face interactions to build social bonds.
“It’s incredible to see how our science translates into real-world impact. Even small changes can make a big difference,” he said.
The thrill of discovery, he said, drives everything he does.
“There’s so much left to uncover,” Eschman said, “and that’s what keeps me coming back every day.”