Wellesley College; University of California, San Diego
Occupation(s)
Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine
Awards
Troland Research Award (2011)
Elizabeth A. Buffalo is the Wayne E. Crill Endowed Professor and Chair 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.
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.
^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.
PMID8278453.
S2CID29662198.
^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.
PMID7972299.
S2CID8892896.