back to positions

Fellows

Robert Blumenfeld Email:   I joined the D’Esposito Lab in Fall 2008 after receiving my Ph.D from UC Davis in the summer of 2008. Although most theories of prefrontal function posit that regions of the dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex make distinct contributions to goal-relevant behavior, evidence has been mixed. My graduate research found evidence, using fMRI, that dorsolateral prefrontal cortex specifically promotes inter-item associative memory as opposed to item memory. Building on this work, my current research examines how dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex are functionally organized in the context of long-term memory encoding. One possibility is that these regions make qualitatively different contributions to long-term memory encoding and therefore are functionally independent. Another possibility is that these regions are organized in a hierarchical fashion.

Craig J Brozinsky Ph.D. Email:   Work phone:   510-642-2839 Office:   210(Q) Barker Hall After graduating from UCDavis, I joined the D'Esposito lab in September 2007. My dissertation research focussed on the role of the medial temporal lobes (MTL) in short term retention. Through fMRI and patient data, the results suggested that the MTL are required to maintain verbal information, even across brief delays. In a similar vein, my current patient work addresses whether there is something "special" about retrieving information from working memory, or whether the same qualitative mechanisms contribute to performance across all retention intervals.

Emi Nomura Email:   Office:   Barker Hall 210N I joined the D'Esposito lab in Spring of 2008 following completion of my graduate training at Northwestern University with Dr. Paul Reber. My doctoral work utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and computational modeling to examine the role of the MTL and basal ganglia-based memory systems in category learning. My research in the D’Esposito lab will focus on furthering our understanding of the neural mechanisms of top-down modulation of visual association cortex. To accomplish this I plan to combine several human neurophysiological techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and the testing of patient populations.

Gary R. Turner Email:   Work phone:   642 2839 Office:   132 Barker Hall I joined the D'Esposito lab in 2007 following completion of my graduate research and clinical neuropsychology training at the University of Toronto and the Rotman Research Institute under the supervision of Dr. Brian Levine. In my doctoral program I pursued two lines of research. The first involved investigating alterations in the functional neuroanatomy of executive control in working memory following traumatic brain injury using functional neuroimaging methods. The second involved the design and evaluation of a cognitive rehabilitation intervention program to remediate executive control deficits following brain injury. My current research in the D'Esposito lab integrates both of these lines of research under the rubric of ‘rehabilitation neuroscience’. In conjunction with Dr. Anthony Chen, a former D’Esposito Lab Fellow, we are using functional imaging methods to identify neural biomarkers of executive control processes and investigating how these change over the course of training in healthy subjects. We subsequently utilize these brain measures to evaluate the efficacy of neurorehabilitation interventions. I currently employ this approach in a range of populations including traumatic brain injury and stroke survivors as well as healthy and pathological aging. My research is primarily translational in nature in that I strive to incorporate cognitive neuroscience methods and principles into the design of clinically-relevant cognitive rehabilitation interventions.

Vincent van Veen Ph.D. Email:   Work phone:   510-642-2839 Office:   132 Barker Hall, 210P Web page:   http://www.vincentvanveen.com/ I was a graduate student with Cameron Carter at the University of Pittsburgh and UC Davis. I did research into the conflict monitoring functions of the anterior cingulate cortex. Currently, my research at the Despolab involves the role of the prefrontal cortex in exerting a top-down control signal in the regulation of our performance. More specifically, I am interested in the role of the prefrontal cortex in speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT). SAT refers to the ability to at will emphasize either speed in our performance at the cost of making more errors, or emphasize accuracy at the cost of reduced speed. Furthermore, I am interested in the nature of the top-down control signal as manifested in the activation of subcortical and posterior cortical areas. We are currently testing the roles of the prefrontal cortex and posterior cortical and motor areas in SAT using functional MRI and TMS. Also, we are planning to conduct studies of patients with focal lesions.

Deanna Wallace Email:   Office:   Barker Hall 210N In 2007, I completed my Ph.D. in lab of Dr. Eric Nestler, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, focusing on addiction and psychiatric disorders in animal models. By using tools in molecular biology such as viral-mediated gene transfer, I was able to alter behaviors related to reward and addiction, such as drug and sucrose intake, as well as modify measures of anxiety and depression behaviors. Ultimately, I wanted to move into translational human studies, which led me to pursue a post-doctoral position in the D’Esposito lab. Dopamine is known to play a role in reward-related behavior, and the dysfunction of this neurotransmitter is additionally observed in many psychiatric disorders. I am interested in studying the effects of dopamine on components of working memory in non-addicted individuals as a post-doctoral researcher, which will allow me to later apply these imaging techniques in psychiatric populations. With these cognitive studies as a foundation, I plan to also explore the effect of reward on cognitive efficiency, and the role of DA in this relationship.

Roel Willems Email:   Web page:   http://www.rmwillems.nl I've been in the D'Esposito lab since May 2009. Before I was at the Donders Institute in Nijmegen, The Netherlands where I did my PhD on speech and gestures. My main interest is on the relationship between language and action. I study this in the context of speech and co-speech gestures as well as in terms of embodied semantics. If you want to know more, visit my web page, where you will also find my papers. You can of course also contact me via e-mail.

Bianca Wittmann Email:   Office:   210T Barker I joined the lab in 2009 after gaining postdoctoral experience working under the supervision of Ray Dolan and Emrah Düzel at University College London. My research focuses on motivational modulation of learning and behavior. I am especially interested in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system and its modulating effects on cognitive systems such as episodic memory and decision making. My immediate goal is to understand what events drive the human dopaminergic system and how they affect long-term memory formation. In the next year, I plan to use dopaminergic drugs and assessment of dopaminergic function with PET to complement fMRI studies.