Anna W. Roe

Associate Professor of Psychology

Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience

Office: 066 Wilson Hall
Phone: (615)343-0901
Fax: (615) 343-8449
Email:

Personal Website

Degrees

B.A. Harvard/Radcliffe Colleges, 1984
Ph.D., M.I.T, 1991

Research Area

Roe studies the neuronal circuitry underlying vision and touch. To map these functions in the brain, she uses a high spatial resolution (50-100 um)imaging method, termed optical imaging. Through an implanted 'window' on the brain, pictures of cortical reflectance are taken which correlate with neural activity. This method, in conjunction with electrophysiology and anatomical tracing methods, permits the study of fundamental cortical modules in the brain and their connections. Her lab is now studying how different networks of modules are activated by simple and complex visual and somatosensory stimuli. In particular, sensory illusions are used to tease apart different stages of sensory processing. To directly link neuronal activation patterns to specific behaviors, she is developing this technology to study cortical activity in awake animals trained on visual and tactile tasks.

Current Courses

Visual System
Neuroanatomy

Current Positions

Associate Professor of Psychology, Vanderbilt University (2003-present)

Previous Positions

Associate Professor of Neurobiology, Yale University (1996-2003)

Professional Societies

Society for Neuroscience
Women in Neuroscience
Investigative Opthalmology and Visual Sciences
Association for Advancement of Science
Cognitive Neuroscience Society
American Physiological Society

Professional Honors

Whitaker Fellow
Whitehall Fellow
Sloan Fellow
Packard Foundation Fellow
NIH study section (COG)
Assoc Editor, Neuroscience Letters
German-American Frontiers of Science Organizer

Research Associates

Gang Chen
Limin Chen
Barbara Dillenburger
Robert Friedman
Haidong Lu
Hisashi Tanigawa

Graduate Students

Min Hui
Peter Kaskan

Undergraduate Students

Jeremy Winberry
Taylor Sewell

Other Personnel

Lisa Chu

Representative Publications

Roe AW, Parker AJ, Born RT, DeAngelis GC (2007) Disparity channels in early vision: a mini-review. J Neurosci, in press.
Kaskan PM, Lu HD, Dillenburger BD, Roe AW, Kaas JH (2007) Intrinsic-signal optical imaging reveals cryptic ocular dominance columns in primary visual cortex of New World owl monkeys. Frontiers in Neuroscience, in press.
Chen LM, Turner G, Friedman RM, Gore JC, Roe AW, Avison MJ (2007) High resolution maps of real and illusory tactile activation in SI: intra-individual correlation with fMRI, optical imaging and electrophysiology. J Neurosci, 27(34):9181-9191; doi:10.1523.
Hung CP, Ramsden RM, Roe AW (2007) A functional circuitry for edge-induced brightness perception. Nature Neurosci, doi:10.1038/nn1948.
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/releases/2007/8/20/when-in-doubt-brain-relies-on-precise-timing-to-perceive-brightness
http://www.physorg.com/news106849780.html
Lu HD, Roe AW (2007) Functional organization of color domains in V1 and V2 of Macaque monkey revealed by optical imaging. Cerebral Cortex, doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhm081.
Lu HD, Roe AW (2007) Optical imaging of contrast response in Macaque monkey V1 & V2. Cerebral Cortex doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhl177.
Roe AW (2007) Long-term optical imaging of intrinsic signals in anesthetized and awake monkeys. Applied Optics 46:1872-1880.
Chen LM, Friedman RM, Roe AW (2005) Optical imaging of SI topography in anesthetized and awake squirrel monkey. J Neurosci 25: 7648-7659.
Roe AW, Fristches K, Pettigrew JD (2005) Optical imaging of functional organization in V1 and V2 of marmoset visual cortex. Anat Rec 287:1213-25.
Roe AW, Lu H, Hung CP (2005) Cortical processing of a brightness illusion. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:3869-3874.
Friedman RM, Chen LM, Roe AW (2004) Modality maps within primate somatosensory cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:12724-12729.
Schwartz TH, Chen LM, Friedman RM, Spencer DD, Roe AW (2004) Intraoperative optical imaging of face topography in human somatosensory cortex. Neuroreport 15:1527-1532.
Chen LM, Friedman RM, Roe AW (2003) Optical imaging of a tactile illusion in Area 3b of primary somatosensory cortex. Science 302:881-885.
http://www.earthsky.com/shows/edgeshow.php?t=20040331.
Hung CP, Ramsden BM, Roe AW (2002) Weakly-modulated spike trains: significance, precision, and correction for sample size. J Neurophysiol 87: 2542-2555.
Chen LM, Heider B, Healy FL, Ramsden BR, Williams GV, Roe AW (2002) A chamber and artificial dura method for long-term optical imaging in primates. J Neuroscience Methods 113:41-49.
Chen LM, Friedman RM, Ramsden BM, LaMotte RH, Roe AW (2001) Fine-scale organization of primary somatosensory cortex (Area 3b) in the squirrel monkey revealed with intrinsic optical imaging. J Neurophysiology 86:3011-3029.
Ramsden BM, Hung CP, Roe AW (2001) Real and illusory contour processing in Area V1 of the primate � a cortical balancing act. Cerebral Cortex 11:648-665.
Ts'o DY, Roe AW, Gilbert CD (2001) A hierarchy of the functional organization for color, form and disparity in primate visual area V2. Vision Research 41:1333 - 1349.
Hung CP, Ramsden BM, Roe AW (2001) Building surfaces from borders in Areas 17 and 18 of the cat. Vision Research 41:1389 - 1407.
Spitzer MW, Calford MB, Clarey JC, Pettigrew JD, Roe AW (2001) Spontaneous and stimulus-evoked intrinsic optical signals in primary auditory cortex of the cat. J Neurophysiol 85:1283-1299.
Roe AW, Ts'o DY (1999) Specificity of color connectivity between primate V1 and V2. J Neurophysiol 82:2719-2731.
Vnek N, Ramsden B, Hung C, Goldman-Rakic PS, Roe AW (1999) Optical imaging of functional domains in the cortex of the awake and behaving primate. Proc Natl Acad Sci 96:4057-4060.
Garraghty PE, Roe AW, Sur M (1998) Specification of retinogeniculate X and Y axon arbors in cats: fundamental differences in developmental programs. Dev Brain Res 107:227-231.
Roe AW, Ts'o DY (1995) Visual topography in primate V2: multiple representation across functional stripes. J Neurosci 15:3689-3715.
Chino YM, Cheng H, Smith EL, Garraghty PE, Roe AW, Sur M (1994) Early discordant binocular vision disrupts signal transfer in the lateral geniculate nucleus. Proc Natl Acad Sci 91:6938-6942.
Garraghty PE, Roe AW, Chino YM, Sur M (1994) Abnormal development of retinogeniculate X axons in strabismic cats: a possible substrate for visual dysfunction. Neurosci Lett 165:223-226.
Roe AW, Garraghty PE, Esguerra M, Sur M (1993) Experimentally induced visual projections to the auditory thalamus in ferrets: evidence for a W cell pathway. J Comp Neurol 334:263-280.
Roe AW, Pallas SL, Kwon YH, Sur M (1992) Visual projections routed to the primary auditory cortex in ferrets: receptive fields of visual neurons in primary auditory cortex. J Neurosci 12:3651-3664.
Roe AW (1991) Functional transformations of visual input by auditory thalamus and cortex: an experimentally induced visual pathway in ferrets. Doctoral dissertation, M.I.T., Cambridge, MA.
Roe AW, Pallas SL, Hahm JO, Sur M (1990) A map of visual space induced into primary auditory cortex. Science, 250:818-820.
Pallas SL, Roe AW, Sur M (1990) Visual projections induced into the auditory pathway of ferrets. I. Novel inputs to primary auditory cortex (AI) from the LP/pulvinar complex and the topography of the MGN-AI projection. J Comp Neurol, 298:50-68.
WhiteWF, O'Gorman S, Roe AW (1990) Three-dimensional autoradiographic localization of quench-corrected glycine receptor specific activity in the mouse brain using 3H-strychnine as the ligand. J Neurosci, 10:795-813.
Garraghty, P.E., A.W. Roe, Y.M. Chino, and M. Sur (1989) The effects of convergent strabismus on the development of physiologically identified retinogeniculate axons in cats. J Comp Neurol, 289:202-212.
Roe AW, Garraghty PE, Sur M (1988) The terminal arbors of single on-center and off-center X and Y retinogeniculate axons within the ferret's lateral geniculate nucleus. J Comp Neurol, 288(2):208-242.
Sur M, Garraghty PE, Roe AW (1988) Experimentally induced projections into auditory thalamus and cortex. Science 242:1437-1441.
White WF, Regan LJ, Roe AW, Messer A (1987) Behavior, genetics, and biochemistry of an allele of the mutant mouse spastic SpaALB. J Neurogenetics 4(5):253-258.
REVIEW ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS
Roe AW (2008) Imaging working memory in prefrontal cortex of macaque monkeys. Imaging the Brain with Optical Methods (Roe AW, ed). Springer, New York.
Roe AW, Lu HD, Chen G (2007) Functional architecture of area V2. Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (Squire L, ed.). Elsevier, Oxford, UK.
Roe AW, Chen LM (2007) High resolution fMRI maps of cortical activation in non-human primates: correlation with intrinsic signal optical images. ILAR Journal, National Research Council of the National Academies, in press.
Roe AW, Chen LM, Friedman RM (2007) Intrinsic signal imaging of somatosensory function in non-human primates. Handbook of the Senses, Vol 5: Somatosensation (Kaas JH, Basbaum A, eds.). Elsevier, Oxford, UK.
Roe AW, Friedman RM, Chen LM (2007) Multiple Representation in Primate SI: A View From A Window on the Brain. In Handbook of Neurochemistry and Molecular Neurobiology: Sensory Neurochemistry, Vol 26 (Johnson D, Lajtha A, eds). Springer, New York NY, pp. 1-16.
Roe AW (2004) Long-term optical imaging of intrinsic signals in anesthetized and awake monkeys. In: Visualizing large-scale patterns of activity in the brain: optical and electrical signals. (Buzsaki G ed) pp 34-42. Washington DC: Society for Neuroscience.
Roe AW (2003) Modular complexity of Area V2 in the Macaque monkey. In The Primate Visual System (Collins C, Kaas J, eds.). CRC Press, New York NY, pp 109-138.
Roe AW, Ts'o DY (1997) The functional architecture of Area V2 in the Macaque monkey. In Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 12: Extrastriate Cortex in Primates (Rockland K, Kaas JH, Peters A, eds.). Plenum Press, New York, pp. 295-333.
Ts'o DY, Roe AW (1995) Functional compartments in visual cortex: segregation and interactions. In The Cognitive Neurosciences (Gazzaniga MS, ed.). M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 325-337.
Ts'o DY, Roe AW (1994) The organization and connectivity of color processing in visual cortex. Symposium for Otto Creutzfeldt. Springer-Verlag (Nothdruft C., ed.).
Sur M, Pallas SL, Roe AW (1990) Cross-modal plasticity in cortical development: differentiation and specification of sensory neocortex. Trends in Neurosci 13:227-233.