Vivien A. Casagrande

Professor of Psychology

Cell & Developmental Biology
Psychology
Vanderbilt Eye Institute

Office: Vanderbilt Medical School U3218, Nashville, TN 37232-8240(Office location: T2302) Nashville, TN 37232-2175
Phone: (615) 343-4538
Home Phone: (615) 269-3380
Cell Phone: 482-3241
Fax: (615) 936-5673
Email:

Personal Website

Laboratory Website

Curriculum Vitae

Degrees

B.A., University of Colorado (Psychology, major; Biology, minor), 1964
Ph.D., Duke University, 1973

Research Area

The overall goal of this research is to understand how the visual thalamus and cortex interact to construct our perceptual world.
The first project explores the unconventional proposal that the primary sensory information received by the visual cortex from the visual thalamus [e.g., the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN)] is not purely visual but rather visual information, primed by inputs from other sensory modalities. In this project, we hypothesize that the primate brain achieves fast and accurate decision-making in part due to its ability to focus, right from the beginning, on relevant aspects of inputs from all sense organs without appreciating all the details presented by each sense organ. Our specific hypothesis is that auditory and visual information are combined in a task dependent manner in the visual thalamus before this message is processed in cortex.
In a second project, we test the hypothesis that all thalamic nuclei contain some cell groups that act as drivers (send the main message) and some that act as modulators for multiple cortical areas, thus mediating the generation of an array of diverse cortical functions. The thalamus is not simply a passive relay to cortex. Instead, just as primary visual cortex (V1) depends on LGN, the secondary visual area (V2) and the middle temporal visual area (MT) depend on a combination of dedicated pathways through the thalamus (e.g., pulvinar) and direct feedforward connections from V1.This arrangement allows new properties to emerge at both the thalamic and cortical levels through dynamic loops.
A third project focuses on communication between cells in different areas of visual cortex and examines how visual messages are coded and transmitted from lower to higher visual areas and what the role of feedback is in this process.
We use a variety of electrophysiological, anatomical, and imaging approaches to address these questions including single unit and multielectrode recording in both anesthetized and awake behaving primates, light, electron microscopic and confocal examination of cells and circuits, optical imaging of intrinsic signals and pharmacological manipulation. Our laboratory also has had a long standing interest in the evolution of the visual system. Therefore, we continue to use a comparative approach to examine for similarities and differences in the organization of the visual system in a variety of primate species.

Current Positions

1980-present Senior Fellow and Investigator, John F. Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Peabody College
1986-present Professor, Departments of Cell & Developmental Biology (formerly Cell Biology) and Psychology, Vanderbilt University
1997-present Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (secondary appointment), Vanderbilt Medical School

Previous Positions

1965-1967 Research Assistant, Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts
1967-1968 United States Public Health Service Traineeship in Physiological Psychology, Duke University (sponsor: Dr. I. T. Diamond)
1968-1970 United States Public Health Service Fellowship, Duke University
1970-1972 United States Public Health Service Fellowship, Duke University
1972-1973 National Institutes of Health, NIGMS, Behavioral Medicine, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Duke University
1973-1975 Research Associate, Department of Anatomy, University of Wisconsin (Postdoctoral Supervisor: Dr. R.W. Guillery)
1975-1980 Assistant Professor, Departments of Anatomy (primary appointment) and Psychology (secondary appointment), Vanderbilt University
1980-1986 Associate Professor, Departments of Cell Biology (formerly Anatomy) and Psychology, Vanderbilt University
1988-1992 Co-Director for Biomedical Sciences, Kennedy Center for Mental Retardation

Professional Societies

Society for Neuroscience
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
FASEB
American Association of Anatomists
Middle Tennessee Chapter for Society for Neuroscience
Visual Sciences Society

Professional Honors

1967-1968; 1970-72 NIH Predoctoral Traineeships
1972-1973 NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship
1977-1980 Academic Investigator Salary Award
1981 The Charles Judson Herrick Award for meritorious contributions to comparative neurology, presented by the American Association of Anatomists
1981-1986 Research Career Development Award
1998 President, Cajal Club
2006 AAAS Elected Fellow

Research Associates

Gopathy Purushothaman

Graduate Students

Walter Jermakowicz
Roan Marion

Representative Publications

2001-2008 Older Publications are available at the lab website: http://www.psy.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/Casagrande/Casagrandelab/index.htm
Khaytin, I, Xin Chen, D.W. Royal, O. Ruiz, W.J. Jermakowicz, R.M. Siegel and Vivien A. Casagrande, (2008) Functional organization of temporal frequency selectivity in primate visual cortex. Cerebral Cortex 18: 1828-1842.
Jermakowicz, W.J. and Casagrande, V.A. (2007) Neuronal networks a century after Cajal in A Century of Neuroscience Discovery: Reflecting on the 1906 Nobel Prizes to Golgi and Cajal. In Brain Research Reviews (L. Swanson, ed.), Elsevier, pp.265-284.
Boyd, J.D., I. Khaytin, and V. A. Casagrande (2007) Comparative approach to study of the evolution of mammalian visual system. In Evolution of the Nervous System (A. Butler,ed.), in press.
Casagrande, V.A., I. Khaytin, and J. Boyd (2007) What the evolution of color vision tells us about the function of parallel visual pathways in primates. In Evolution of the Nervous System (A. Butler, ed), in press.
Casagrande, V. A., F. Yazar, K.D. Jones, and Y. Ding (2007) The morphology of the koniocellular (K) axon pathway in the macaque monkey. Cerebral Cortex Advance Access, published on January 10, 2007.
Xu, X,, Anderson, T.J., Casagrande, V.A. (2007) How do functional maps in primary visual cortex vary with eccentricity? Journal of Comparative Neurology 501, 741-755.
Casagrande, V.A., I. Khaytin, I., and J. Boyd (2006) The evolution of parallel visual pathways in the brains of primates. In Evolution of the Nervous System (T.M. Preuss and J. Kaas, eds.), vol. 4, pp. 87-108.
Ruiz, O., D. Royal, G. Sary, X. Chen, J. D. Schall, and V. A. Casagrande (2006) Low-threshold Ca2+ associated bursts are rare events in the LGN of the awake behaving monkey. Journal of Neurophysiology 95:3401-3413.
Elston, G.N., R. Benavides-Piccione, A. Elston, B. Zietsch, J. DeFelipe, P. Manger, V. Casagrande and J. Kaas (2006) Specializations of the granular prefrontal cortex of primates: implications for cognitive processing. Anatomical Record Part A 288A:26-35.
Royal, D. W., Gy. Sary, J.D. Schall, and V.A. Casagrande (2006) Correlates of motor planning and integration across visual fixations in the macaque monkey lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Experimental Brain Research 168:62-75.
Xu, X., Collins C.E., Khaytin, I., Kaas J. H., and V. A. Casagrande (2006). Unequal representation of cardinal versus oblique orientations in the middle temporal (MT) visual area. Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences 103(46):17490-95.
Casagrande, V.A., Royal, D.W., Sary, Gy. (2005) Extraretinal inputs and feedback mechanisms to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). In The Primate Visual System: A Comparative Approach (Jan Kremers, ed.) Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, pp. 191-206.
Casagrande, V. A., Gy. Sary, D. Royal, and O. Ruiz (2005) On the impact of attention and motor planning on the lateral geniculate nucleus. In Progress in Brain Research vol. 149: Cortical Function: A View from the Thalamus. (V. A. Casagrande, S. M. Sherman and R. W. Guillery, eds), Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 11-29.
Casagrande, V.A., R. Guillery, and S. Sherman, eds. (2005) Cortical function: a view from the thalamus (book). In Progress in Brain Research vol. 149, Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Collins, C. E., X. Xu, I. Khaytin, P. M. Kaskan, V. A. Casagrande, and J. H. Kaas (2005) Optical imaging of visually evoked responses in the middle temporal area after deactivation of primary visual cortex in adult primates. Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences 102(15): 5594-5559.
Elston, E., A. Elston, V. Casagrande, and J. H. Kaas (2005) Pyramidal neurons in granular prefrontal cortex of the bush baby: Complexity in the evolution of the psychic cell. Anatomical Record Part A 285A:610-618.
Elston, E., A. Elston, V. Casagrande, and J. H. Kaas (2005) Regional specialization of pyramidal cell structure in the cerebral cortex of the bush baby (Otolemur garnetti). Brain, Behavior, and Evolution 66:10-20.
Elston, E., A. Elston, V. Casagrande, and J. H. Kaas (2005) Areal specialization of pyramidal cell structure in the visual cortex of the tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri): a new task revealed in the evolution of cortical circuitry. Experimental Brain Research 163:13-20.
Xu, X., Bosking W. H., White, L. E., Fitzpatrick, D., & Casagrande, V.A. (2005) Functional organization of visual cortex in the prosimian bush baby revealed by optical imaging of intrinsic signals. Journal of Neurophysiology, 94:2748-2762.
Casagrande, V.A. and X. Xu (2004) Parallel visual pathways: a comparative perspective. In The Visual Neurosciences (L. Chalupa and John S. Werner, eds.) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 494-506.
Wiencken, A. E., J. Mavity-Hudson, M. Kutsche, M. Schachner, and V. A. Casagrande (2004). The role of L1 in axon pathfinding and fasciculation. Cerebral Cortex (cover figure) 14:121-113.
Xu, X., C.E. Collins, P.M. Kaskan, I. Khaytin, J.H. Kaas, and V.A. Casagrande (2004). Optical imaging of visually evoked responses in prosimian primates reveals conserved features of the middle temporal visual area. Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences 101(8): 2566-71.
Xu, X., W. Bosking, G. Sary, J. Stefansic, D. Shima, and V. Casagrande (2004). Functional organization of visual cortex in the owl monkey. Journal of Neuroscience (cover figure), 24(28):6237-6247.
Casagrande, V.A. and D. Royal (2003) Parallel visual pathways in a dynamic system. In Primate Vision (J. H. Kaas and C. E. Collins, eds.) Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, pp. 1-28.
Joos, K., L. Mawn, J. Shen, V. A. Casagrande (2003) Chronic and acute analysis of optic nerve sheath fenestration with the free electron laser in monkeys. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine 32:32-41.
Shostak, Y., Y. Ding, and V. A. Casagrande (2003) Neurochemical comparison of synaptic arrangements of parvocellular, magnocellular, and koniocellular geniculate pathways in owl monkey (Aotus trivirgatus) visual cortex. Journal of Comparative Neurology 456: 12-28.
Casagrande, V. A. and J.M. Ichida (2002) The visual cortex. In Physiology of the Eye (F. H. Adler, ed.), St. Louis, MO: C.V. Mosby, pp. 669-685.
Casagrande, V. A., X. Xu, and Gy. Sary (2002) Static and dynamic views of visual cortical organization. In Changing Views of Cajal's Neuron, vol.136, Progress in Brain Research (P. Rakic, E. Azmitia, J. deFelipe, C. Ribak and E. Jones, eds.), New York: Elsevier, pp. 389-408.
Ichida, J. M. and V. A. Casagrande (2002) Organization of the feedback pathway from striate cortex (V1) to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) in a simian primate (Aotus trivirgatus). Journal of Comparative Neurology. 454:272-283.
Lyon, D. C., X. Xu, V. A., Casagrande, J. D. Stefansic, D. Shima and J. H. Kaas (2002) Optical imaging reveals retinotopic organization of dorsal V3 in New World owl monkeys. Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences 99 (24):15735-15742.
Shostak, Y., Y. Ding, J. A. Mavity-Hudson, and V. A. Casagrande (2002) Cortical synaptic arrangements of the third visual pathway in three primate species: Macaca mulatta, Saimiri sciureus, and Aotus trivirgatus. Journal of Neuroscience 22:2885-2893.
Wiencken-Barger, A.E. and V. A. Casagrande (2002) Visual system development and neural activity. In Encyclopedia of the Human Brain (V. S. Ramachandran, ed.) San Diego: Academic, pp. 791-804.
Xu, X., A. B. Bonds and V. A. Casagrande (2002) Modeling receptive field structure of koniocellular, magnocellular, and paravocellular LGN cells in the owl monkey (Aotus trivigatus). Visual Neuroscience 19: 703-711
Xu, X., J. M. Ichida, Y. Shostak, A. B. Bonds, and V. A. Casagrande (2002) Are primate lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) cells really sensitive to orientation or direction? Visual Neuroscience 19: 97-108.
Casagrande, V. A. and J.M. Ichida (2002) The primary visual cortex. In Physiology of the Eye (F. H. Adler, ed.), St. Louis, MO: C.V. Mosby, pp. 669-685.
Xu, X., J. M. Ichida, J. D. Allison, J. D. Boyd, A. B. Bonds and V. A. Casagrande (2001) A comparison of koniocellular, magnocellular and parvocellular receptive field properties in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the owl monkey (Aotus trivirgatus). The Journal of Physiology 531.1: 203-218.

Miscellaneous

News Articles:
The Reporter
The Vanderbilt Register

In addition, there is a link on the Brian Institute website:
Brain Institute website