Overview
My work can be best described as comparative cognitive neuroscience, which is characterized by two related approaches. One is a cross-species approach, comparing rat models of the neurochemistry of attention and learning to humans, focusing on the neurochemical acetylcholine. The other is an across the lifespan approach, examining the cholinergic hypothesis of age-related changes in cognition.
We use activity mapping from fMRI data to provide theoretical models that can then be more fully tested in rats combining local field potential recordings with immunotoxic lesions and pharmacology.
I received my B.A. in Biology-Psychology from Vassar College and then worked as a research assistant for a few years at Harvard University School of Medicine and fell in love with research. I was trained in animal neuroscience and received my Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Harvard University and then received training in human neuroscience as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine. I enjoy bringing both of these approaches together in my lab.
Publications
- Li, X.*, Chiu, M, Swallow, K., De Rosa, E. & Anderson, A.K. (in press). Attention and cardiac phase boost judgments of trust. Scientific Reports
- Hu, K., De Rosa, E. & Anderson, A.K. (2019). Yellow is for safety: Perceptual and affective perspectives. Psychological Research, Apr 29. doi: 10.1007/s00426-019-01186-2.
- Markello, R.D.*, Spreng, R.N. Luh W-L, Anderson A.K., & De Rosa, E. (2018) Segregation of the human basal forebrain using resting state functional MRI. NeuroImage, 173, 287-297.
- Ljubojevic, V.*, Luu, P.* Gill, P.*, Beckett, L-A.*, Takehara-Nishiuchi, K. & De Rosa, E. (2018). Cholinergic modulation of frontoparietal cortical network dynamics supporting supramodal attention. Journal of Neuroscience, 38, 3988-4005.
- Hu, K.*, De Rosa, E. & Anderson, A.K. (2018). The saving posteriority effect: Differential temporal salience of earnings and savings. Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05201-9
- Li., X.*, Swallow, K., Chiu, M., De Rosa, E. & Anderson, A.K. (2018) Does the body give the brain an attentional boost? Examining the relationship between attentional and cardiac gating. Biological Psychology, 139, 124-130.
- Schmitz, T.W.*, Dixon, M.L.*, Anderson, A.K. & De Rosa, E. (2014) Distinguishing attentional gain and tuning in young and older adults. Neurobiology of Aging, 5, 2514-25
- Ljubojevic, V.*, Luu, P.* & De Rosa, E. (2014) Cholinergic contributions to supramodal attentional processes. Journal of Neuroscience, 34, 2264-2275
- Botly, LCP* & De Rosa, E. (2012) Using visual search to examine cholinergic contributions to feature binding in the rat Cerebral Cortex, 22, 2441-2453
- Schmitz, T.W.*, Cheng, F.* & De Rosa, E. (2010) Failing to ignore: Paradoxical neural effects of perceptual load on early attentional selection in normal ageing. Journal of Neuroscience, 30, 14750-8
- Dixon, M.L.*, Zelazo, P. David & De Rosa E. (2010) Evidence for Intact Memory-guided Attention in School-Aged Children. Developmental Science, 13, 161-69
- Schmitz, T.W.*, De Rosa, E. & Anderson, A.K. (2009) Opposing influences of affective state valence on visual cortical encoding. Journal of Neuroscience, 29, 7199-207
- Botly, L.C.P.* & De Rosa, E. (2009) Cholinergic deafferentation of the neocortex using 192 IgG-saporin impairs feature binding in rats. Journal of Neuroscience, 29, 4120-4130. Recommended by the Faculty of 1000
- Botly, L.C.P.* & De Rosa, E. (2009) The role of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis in feature binding in rats. Physiology & Behavior, 97, 313-20
- Dixon, M.L.*, Ruppel, J.*, Pratt, J. & De Rosa, E. (2009) Learning to Ignore: Acquisition of Sustained Attentional Suppression. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16, 418-423.
- Botly, L.C.P.* & De Rosa, E. (2008) Acetylcholine, attention, and feature binding: A cross-species investigation. Psychological Science, 19, 1185-93
- Caplan, J.B.*, McIntosh, A.R. & De Rosa, E. (2007) Two Distinct Neuromodulatory Functional Networks for Successful Resolution of Proactive Interference. Cerebral Cortex. 17, 1650-1663.
- Botly, L.C.P. * & De Rosa, E. (2007) Cholinergic influences on feature binding. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121, 264-276.