CONTACT INFORMATIONBIOGRAPHYCREDENTIALSAWARDSPUBLICATIONSFarran Briggs, Ph.D.(Pronouns: she/her/hers)Contact InformationPhone NumbersOffice: (585) 276-3736Research LabsVisit Lab WebsiteLocationsUniversity of Rochester Medical CenterSchool of Medicine and Dentistry601 Elmwood Ave, Box 603Rochester, NY 14642Faculty AppointmentsAssociate Professor - Department of Neuroscience (SMD) Associate Professor - Department of Brain/Cognitive Sciences RC (RC) - JointAssociate Professor - Center for Visual Science A&S (RC) - JointBiographyProfessional BackgroundAfter graduating from Dartmouth College in 1997 with a B.A. in Biology, Dr. Briggs attended graduate school at the University of California, San Diego where she studied local cortical circuitry with Dr. Ed Callaway at the Salk Institute. She received her Ph.D. in Biology from UCSD in 2003. Dr. Briggs conducted her post-doctoral research at the University of California, Davis where she studied visual systems neurophysiology with Drs. Marty Usrey, Barbara Chapman, and Ron Mangun. From 2011 to 2017, Dr. Briggs was an Assistant Professor in the Physiology & Neurobiology department at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. In 2017, Dr. Briggs moved her lab to the University of Rochester, joining the Neuroscience and Brain and Cognitive Sciences departments. Dr. Briggs’ research is aimed at understanding how neuronal circuits in the early visual system encode and process visual information in healthy and in disease states, and how spatial attention modulates these activities.ResearchCritical to our comprehension of the brain is an understanding of how neuronal circuits, or the connections between neurons in the brain, underlie perception and behavior. The goals of the laboratory are to understand how neuronal circuits in the early visual system encode and process visual information and how spatial attention modulates these activities. There are four main projects that are currently underway in the laboratory. The first aims at understanding the mechanism by which visual attention modulates the activity of neurons and circuits in the early visual pathways. We have demonstrated that attentional modulation of neurons in the primary visual cortex depends critically on the match between the feature selectivity of individual neurons and the features required for successful task completion. We continue to explore the mechanisms of attention at the granular and circuit level in order to develop a more comprehensive understanding of visual attention. The second project in the lab is designed to elucidate the functional role of the corticogeniculate feedback circuit in visual perception. We have shown that corticogeniculate neurons connecting the visual cortex with the visual thalamus in the feedback direction are morphologically and physiologically diverse. We have utilized an innovative combination of virus-mediated gene delivery and optogenetic techniques to show that corticogeniculate feedback controls the timing, precision, and variability of thalamic responses to incoming visual information. Ongoing experiments will further define how corticogeniculate feedback regulates the flow of information about distinct visual features in the environment. The third project explores physiological changes that occur in the visual thalamus following removal of retinal input, as can occur in many diseases of the eye. Related work will also explore the role of the visual thalamus and extrastriate visual cortex in visual perception following damage to primary visual cortex that occurs during stroke. Finally, a fourth project in the lab aims to decode visual responses under more natural conditions in freely moving subjects. Together, these projects utilize combinations of innovative methods to better understand the neuronal basis for visual perception in both health and disease.CredentialsEducation1997BA | Dartmouth CollegeBiology2003PhD | University of California, San DiegoBiologyPost-doctoral Training & Residency2003 - 2010Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. W. Martin Usrey (co-mentored by Drs. B. Chapman, G.R. Mangun), UC DavisAwards2022Scholar-in-ResidenceSponsor: University of PennsylvaniaLocation: Philadelphia, PA2018Neuroscience Graduate Program Annual Retreat Faculty SpeakerSponsor: URMC Neuroscience Graduate Program2016Mentoring AwardSponsor: Dartmouth Graduate Program2009 - 2014Pathway to Independence AwardSponsor: NIH2007 - 2009Society for Neuroscience Chapters Postdoctoral Trainee Travel AwardSponsor: Society for NeuroscienceLocation: UC Davis2007Optical Society of America Young Investigator AwardSponsor: Optical Society of AmericaVIEW ALL expand_morePublicationsJournal Articles9/2/2023Yang J, Saionz EL, Cavanaugh MR, Fahrenthold BK, Melnick MD, Tadin D, Briggs F, Carrasco M, Huxlin KR. "Contrast sensitivity: a fundamental limit to vision restoration after V1 damage." medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences.. 2023 Sep 2; Epub 2023 Sep 02. 9/1/2023Yang J, Huxlin K, Briggs F. "Poster Session: The impact of retinal excitotoxic lesions on parallel visual streams in the ferret dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus." Journal of vision.. 2023 Sep 1; 23(11):79. 1/18/2023Hu W, Zhu S, Briggs F, Doyley MM. "Functional ultrasound imaging reveals 3D structure of orientation domains in ferret primary visual cortex." NeuroImage.. 2023 Jan 18; :119889. Epub 2023 Jan 18. Books & Chapters2017 Chapter Title: Mammalian visual system organization Book Title: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Neuroscience Author List: Farran Briggs Edited By: W.M. Usrey and S.M. Sherman Published By: Oxford University Press 2017 in Oxford2014 Chapter Title: Functional properties of cortical feedback to the primate lateral geniculate nucleus Book Title: The New Visual Neurosciences Author List: Farran Briggs and W. Martin Usrey Published By: MIT Press 2014 in Cambridge2008 Chapter Title: Visual processing: primary visual cortex Book Title: Encyclopedia of Perception Author List: Farran Briggs and W. Martin Usrey Edited By: B. Goldstein Published By: Sage Press 2008VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS