Russell Epstein | University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychology

Associate Professor

Department:

Psychology

Education:

BA, Physics, University of Chicago; Ph.D., Applied Mathematics, Harvard University

Address:

Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Goddard Labs, 3710 Hamilton Walk, Room 522

Phone:

215-573-3532

Email:

epstein@psych.upenn.edu

Lab Page

Research Themes:

Behavioral Neuroscience

Cognitive Neuroscience

Memory and Learning

Sensation and Perception

Specific Research Areas:

Neural bases of visual scene perception and spatial cognition

Research Synopsis:

Our lab uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral methods to study the neural systems involved in visual scene recognition and spatial navigation. We focus in particular on understanding how scenes, objects, landmarks, and environmental spaces are coded by neural signals, and how these signals might be interrogated with neuroimaging techniques. Recent work has targeted specific brain structures such as parahippocampal cortex, retrosplenial cortex, and the hippocampus, which are strongly implicated in place recognition and/or the encoding of long-term memories of the spatial structure of large-scale environments.

Dr. Epstein is accepting new graduate students for admission in fall 2012.

Representative Courses:

PSYC 149 Cognitive Neuroscience
PSYC 259: Cognitive Neuroscience of Consciousness
PSYC 349: Research Experience in Cognitive Neuroscience
PSYC 459: Visual Cognition
PSYC 600: Cognitive Neuroscience Graduate Proseminar

Appointments:

Psychology Graduate Group; Neuroscience Graduate Group

Advisees:

Marcelo Mattar [Psychology Graduate Student]
Lindsay Morgan [Neuroscience Graduate Student]
Teresa Pegors [Psychology Graduate Student]

Representative Publications:

Morgan, L.K., MacEvoy, S.P., Aguirre, G.K. & Epstein, R.A. (2011). Distances between real-world locations are represented in the human hippocampus. Journal of Neuroscience, 31, 1238-1245.

Epstein, R.A. & Ward, E. J. (2010). How reliable are visual context effects in the parahippocampal place area? Cerebral Cortex, 20:943-7.

MacEvoy, S.P. & Epstein, R.A. (2009). Decoding the representation of multiple simultaneous objects in human occipitotemporal cortex. Current Biology, 19, 943-947.

Epstein, R.A. (2008). Parahippocampal and retrosplenial contributions to human spatial navigation. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12: 388-396.

Epstein, R.A., Parker, W.E. & Feiler, A.M. (2007). Where am I now? Distinct roles for parahippocampal and retrosplenial cortices in place recognition. Journal of Neuroscience, 27: 6141-6149.

Epstein, R. (2004). Art, consciousness, and the brain: Lessons from Marcel Proust. Consciousness & Cognition, 13: 213-240.

Epstein, R. & Kanwisher, N. (1998). A cortical representation of the local visual environment. Nature, 392: 598-601.