Elizabeth A. Buffalo

Elizabeth A. Buffalo is professor of physiology and biophysics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and chief of the neuroscience division at the Washington National Primate Research Center. She is known for her research in the field of neurophysiology pertaining to the role of the hippocampus and medial temporal lobe structures in learning and memory and in spatial representation and navigation.

Elizabeth Buffalo
Alma materWellesley College; University of California, San Diego
Occupation(s)Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine
AwardsTroland Research Award (2011)

Buffalo received the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences in 2011 for "innovative, multidisciplinary study of the hippocampus and the neural basis of memory.”[1] She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Caesar, a neuroscience research institute associated with the Max Planck Society,[2] and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives.[3]

She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022.[4]

Biography

Buffalo attended Wellesley College where she received her bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1992.[5] She completed a research internship in at the National Center for Toxicological Research, Jefferson, AR where she studies the effects of caffeine and other chemical agents (MK-801) on operant learning in monkeys.[6][7] Buffalo continued her education at the University of California, San Diego, where she obtained her master's degree in philosophy in 1995, working under the supervision of Patricia Churchland, and her doctorate in neuroscience in 1998, working under the supervision of Stuart Zola and Larry Squire.

Buffalo completed postdoctoral training in neuropsychology at the National Institute of Mental Health, where she worked with Robert Desimone from 1999 to 2005.[5] Buffalo joined the faculty of the department of neurology at the Emory University School of Medicine in 2005 and was appointed to the core faculty of the Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurologic Diseases at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in 2009.

Buffalo moved to the University of Washington School of Medicine in 2013 with a joint appointment to the Division of Neuroscience of the Washington National Primate Research Center. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, DARPA, the Simons Foundation,[8] the Charles A. Dana Foundation, and Pfizer.

Research

Buffalo uses a variety of research methods to explore the neural basis of learning and memory, including the innovative use of video games to study the process of memory formation in monkeys.[9] One of her goals has been to elucidate the role of the hippocampus in the development of cognitive maps and other forms of spatial representation and its role in episodic and declarative memory.[10][11] Her collaborative work with other neuroscientists indicates that the hippocampus encodes a broad range of contextual cues, including temporal and situational information, to support memory for events as well as navigation skills.[12]

Some of Buffalo and her colleagues' work used lesion techniques with monkeys to better understand the role of the hippocampus in recognition and declarative memory.[13] Monkeys subjected to lesions caused by ischemic damage, stereotaxic radio-frequency waves, or selective neurotoxins, like ibotenic acid, that took place at the hippocampus demonstrated impairments of recognition memory, as assessed using the visual paired-comparison task and the delayed non-matching to sample task. The authors concluded that the hippocampus play an essential role in recognition memory, with further work addressing how the hippocampus coordinates its function with other structures, especially the perirhinal cortex.[14][15] Other work on memory function aims is to identify how changes associated with aging or disease can interfere with memory encoding and retrieval, and how visual processing might provide clues to understanding early cognitive impairment.[16]

Representative publications
  • Buffalo, E. A., Bellgowan, P. S., & Martin, A. (2006). Distinct roles for medial temporal lobe structures in memory for objects and their locations. Learning & Memory, 13(5), 638–643.
  • Buffalo, E. A., Fries, P., Landman, R., Buschman, T. J., & Desimone, R. (2011). Laminar differences in gamma and alpha coherence in the ventral stream. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(27), 11262–11267.
  • Buffalo, E. A., Fries, P., Landman, R., Liang, H., & Desimone, R. (2010). A backward progression of attentional effects in the ventral stream. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(1), 361–365.
  • Buffalo, E. A., Reber, P. J., & Squire, L. R. (1998). The human perirhinal cortex and recognition memory. Hippocampus, 8(4), 330–339.
  • Killian, N. J., Jutras, M. J., & Buffalo, E. A. (2012). A map of visual space in the primate entorhinal cortex. Nature, 491(7426), 761–764.
  • Schmolck, H., Buffalo, E. A., & Squire, L. R. (2000). Memory distortions develop over time: Recollections of the OJ Simpson trial verdict after 15 and 32 months. Psychological Science, 11(1), 39–45.

References
  1. "Troland Research Awards". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  2. "Scientific Advisory Board - Members". www.caesar.de. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  3. "Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives Elects Fourteen New Members". dana.org. Archived from the original on 2017-12-13. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  4. "2022 NAS Election".
  5. "Yerkes -- Elizabeth Buffalo, PhD". www.yerkes.emory.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  6. Buffalo, Elizabeth A.; Gillam, Michael P.; Allen, Richard R.; Paule, Merle G. (1993). "Acute effects of caffeine on several operant behaviors in rhesus monkeys". Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. 46 (3): 733–737. doi:10.1016/0091-3057(93)90570-j. PMID 8278453. S2CID 29662198.
  7. Buffalo, Elizabeth A.; Gillam, Michael P.; Allen, Richard R.; Paule, Merle G. (1994). "Acute behavioral effects of MK-801 in rhesus monkeys: Assessment using an operant test battery". Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. 48 (4): 935–940. doi:10.1016/0091-3057(94)90203-8. PMID 7972299. S2CID 8892896.
  8. "Elizabeth A. Buffalo | Simons Foundation". Simons Foundation. 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  9. Wanucha, Genevieve. "Research at the UW Will Improve How Clinicians Help Those with Memory Loss" (PDF). THE KING COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.
  10. Killian, Nathaniel J.; Jutras, Michael J.; Buffalo, Elizabeth A. (2012). "A map of visual space in the primate entorhinal cortex". Nature. 491 (7426): 761–764. Bibcode:2012Natur.491..761K. doi:10.1038/nature11587. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 3565234. PMID 23103863.
  11. Buffalo, Elizabeth A.; Bellgowan, Patrick S. F.; Martin, Alex (2006-09-01). "Distinct roles for medial temporal lobe structures in memory for objects and their locations". Learning & Memory. 13 (5): 638–643. doi:10.1101/lm.251906. ISSN 1072-0502. PMC 1783618. PMID 16980544.
  12. Schiller, Daniela; Eichenbaum, Howard; Buffalo, Elizabeth A.; Davachi, Lila; Foster, David J.; Leutgeb, Stefan; Ranganath, Charan (2015-10-14). "Memory and Space: Towards an Understanding of the Cognitive Map". Journal of Neuroscience. 35 (41): 13904–13911. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2618-15.2015. ISSN 0270-6474. PMC 6608181. PMID 26468191.
  13. Zola, Stuart M.; Squire, Larry R.; Teng, Edmond; Stefanacci, Lisa; Buffalo, Elizabeth A.; Clark, Robert E. (2000-01-01). "Impaired Recognition Memory in Monkeys after Damage Limited to the Hippocampal Region". Journal of Neuroscience. 20 (1): 451–463. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.20-01-00451.2000. ISSN 0270-6474. PMC 6774137. PMID 10627621.
  14. Buffalo, Elizabeth A.; Ramus, Seth J.; Clark, Robert E.; Teng, Edmond; Squire, Larry R.; Zola, Stuart M. (1999-11-01). "Dissociation Between the Effects of Damage to Perirhinal Cortex and Area TE". Learning & Memory. 6 (6): 572–599. doi:10.1101/lm.6.6.572. ISSN 1072-0502. PMC 311316. PMID 10641763.
  15. Buffalo, Elizabeth A.; Ramus, Seth J., Squire, Larry R., & Zola, Stuart M. (2000). "Perception and Recognition Memory in Monkeys Following Lesions of Area TE and Perirhinal Cortex". Learning and Memory. 7 (6): 375–382. doi:10.1101/lm.32100. PMC 311353. PMID 11112796.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. Lagun, Dmitry; Manzanares, Cecelia; Zola, Stuart M.; Buffalo, Elizabeth A.; Agichtein, Eugene (2011). "Detecting cognitive impairment by eye movement analysis using automatic classification algorithms". Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 201 (1): 196–203. doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2011.06.027. PMC 3403832. PMID 21801750.
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