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Farran Briggs, Ph.D.

Farran Briggs, Ph.D.

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Office (585) 276-3736

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About Me

After 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. Brigg...
After 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.

Faculty Appointments

Adjunct Associate Professor - Department of Neuroscience (SMD)

Credentials

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. W. Martin Usrey (co-mentored by Drs. B. Chapman, G.R. Mangun), UC Davis 2003 - 2010

Education

PhD | University of California, San Diego. Biology. 2003

BA | Dartmouth College. Biology. 1997

Awards

Scholar-in-Residence. 2022

Neuroscience Graduate Program Annual Retreat Faculty Speaker. 2018

Mentoring Award. 2016

Pathway to Independence Award. 2009 - 2014

Society for Neuroscience Chapters Postdoctoral Trainee Travel Award. 2007 - 2009

Optical Society of America Young Investigator Award. 2007

Research

Critical 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 informa...
Critical 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.

Publications

Journal Articles

Dual parallel stream-specific and generalized effects of corticogeniculate feedback on LGN neurons in primate and carnivore.

Mai S, Murphy AJ, Hasse JM, Briggs F

Nature communications.. 2025 April 916 (1):3380. Epub 04/09/2025.

Using Generative Models of Naturalistic Scenes to Sample Neural Population Tuning Manifolds.

Scott H, Murphy AJ, Briggs F, Snyder AC

The European journal of neuroscience.. 2025 April 61 (7):e70088. Epub 1900 01 01.

Correlated variability and its attentional modulation depend on anatomical connectivity.

Shah S, Hembrook-Short J, Mock V, Briggs F

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.. 2024 August 27121 (35):e2318841121. Epub 08/22/2024.

Parallel Streams of Direct Corticogeniculate Feedback from Mid-level Extrastriate Cortex in the Macaque Monkey.

Adusei M, Callaway EM, Usrey WM, Briggs F

eNeuro.. 2024 March 11 (3)Epub 03/15/2024.

Limited restoration of contrast sensitivity with training after V1 damage in humans.

Yang ??? J, Saionz EL, Cavanaugh MR, Fahrenthold BK, Melnick MD, Tadin D, Briggs F, Carrasco M, Huxlin KR

eNeuro.. 2024 February 2311 (3)Epub 02/23/2024.

Contrast sensitivity: a fundamental limit to vision restoration after V1 damage.

Yang J, Saionz EL, Cavanaugh MR, Fahrenthold BK, Melnick MD, Tadin D, Briggs F, Carrasco M, Huxlin KR

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences.. 2023 September 2 Epub 09/02/2023.

Poster Session: The impact of retinal excitotoxic lesions on parallel visual streams in the ferret dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus.

Yang J, Huxlin K, Briggs F

Journal of vision.. 2023 September 123 (11):79. Epub 1900 01 01.

Functional ultrasound imaging reveals 3D structure of orientation domains in ferret primary visual cortex.

Hu W, Zhu S, Briggs F, Doyley MM

NeuroImage.. 2023 March 268 :119889. Epub 01/18/2023.

Attention differentially modulates multiunit activity in the lateral geniculate nucleus and V1 of macaque monkeys.

Shah S, Mancarella M, Hembrook-Short JR, Mock VL, Briggs F

The Journal of comparative neurology.. 2022 May 530 (7):1064-1080. Epub 05/19/2021.

Morphological evidence for multiple distinct channels of corticogeniculate feedback originating in mid-level extrastriate visual areas of the ferret.

Adusei M, Hasse JM, Briggs F

Brain structure & function.. 2021 December 226 (9):2777-2791. Epub 10/12/2021.

Optogenetic activation of corticogeniculate feedback stabilizes response gain and increases information coding in LGN neurons.

Murphy AJ, Shaw L, Hasse JM, Goris RLT, Briggs F

Journal of computational neuroscience.. 2021 August 49 (3):259-271. Epub 07/06/2020.

Role of Feedback Connections in Central Visual Processing.

Briggs F

Annual review of vision science.. 2020 September 156 :313-334. Epub 06/17/2020.

Physiological characterization of a rare subpopulation of doublet-spiking neurons in the ferret lateral geniculate nucleus.

Murphy AJ, Hasse JM, Briggs F

Journal of neurophysiology.. 2020 August 1124 (2):432-442. Epub 07/15/2020.

Changes in Local Network Activity Approximated by Reverse Spike-Triggered Local Field Potentials Predict the Focus of Attention.

Sharafeldin A, Mock VL, Meisenhelter S, Hembrook-Short JR, Briggs F

Cerebral cortex communications.. 2020 1 (1):tgaa014. Epub 04/24/2020.

Phase shifts in high-beta- and low-gamma-band local field potentials predict the focus of visual spatial attention.

Mock VL, Luke KL, Hembrook-Short JR, Briggs F

Journal of neurophysiology.. 2019 March 1121 (3):799-822. Epub 12/12/2018.

Morphological heterogeneity among corticogeniculate neurons in ferrets: quantification and comparison with a previous report in macaque monkeys.

Hasse JM, Bragg EM, Murphy AJ, Briggs F

The Journal of comparative neurology.. 2019 February 15527 (3):546-557. Epub 04/26/2018.

Attention Enhances the Efficacy of Communication in V1 Local Circuits.

Hembrook-Short JR, Mock VL, Usrey WM, Briggs F

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.. 2019 February 639 (6):1066-1076. Epub 12/12/2018.

Dynamic communication of attention signals between the LGN and V1.

Mock VL, Luke KL, Hembrook-Short JR, Briggs F

Journal of neurophysiology.. 2018 October 1120 (4):1625-1639. Epub 07/05/2018.

Corticogeniculate feedback sharpens the temporal precision and spatial resolution of visual signals in the ferret.

Hasse JM, Briggs F

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.. 2017 July 25114 (30):E6222-E6230. Epub 07/11/2017.

Attentional Modulation of Neuronal Activity Depends on Neuronal Feature Selectivity.

Hembrook-Short JR, Mock VL, Briggs F

Current biology : CB.. 2017 July 1027 (13):1878-1887.e5. Epub 06/22/2017.

Morphology of visual sector thalamic reticular neurons in the macaque monkey suggests retinotopically specialized, parallel stream-mixed input to the lateral geniculate nucleus.

Bragg EM, Fairless EA, Liu S, Briggs F

The Journal of comparative neurology.. 2017 April 1525 (5):1273-1290. Epub 11/21/2016.

Large-scale Reconstructions and Independent, Unbiased Clustering Based on Morphological Metrics to Classify Neurons in Selective Populations.

Bragg EM, Briggs F

Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE.. 2017 February 15 (120)Epub 02/15/2017.

A cross-species comparison of corticogeniculate structure and function.

Hasse JM, Briggs F

Visual neuroscience.. 2017 34 Epub 11/16/2017.

Morphological Substrates for Parallel Streams of Corticogeniculate Feedback Originating in Both V1 and V2 of the Macaque Monkey.

Briggs F, Kiley CW, Callaway EM, Usrey WM

Neuron.. 2016 April 2090 (2):388-99. Epub 03/31/2016.

Simultaneous recordings from the primary visual cortex and lateral geniculate nucleus reveal rhythmic interactions and a cortical source for ?-band oscillations.

Bastos AM, Briggs F, Alitto HJ, Mangun GR, Usrey WM

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.. 2014 May 2834 (22):7639-44. Epub 1900 01 01.

Attention enhances synaptic efficacy and the signal-to-noise ratio in neural circuits.

Briggs F, Mangun GR, Usrey WM

Nature.. 2013 July 25499 (7459):476-80. Epub 06/26/2013.

Distinct mechanisms for size tuning in primate visual cortex.

Briggs F, Usrey WM

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.. 2011 August 3131 (35):12644-9. Epub 1900 01 01.

Corticogeniculate feedback and visual processing in the primate.

Briggs F, Usrey WM

The Journal of physiology.. 2011 January 1589 (Pt 1):33-40. Epub 08/19/2010.

Organizing principles of cortical layer 6.

Briggs F

Frontiers in neural circuits.. 2010 4 :3. Epub 02/12/2010.

Patterned Activity within the Local Cortical Architecture.

Briggs F, Usrey WM

Frontiers in neuroscience.. 2010 4 :18. Epub 09/15/2010.

Parallel processing in the corticogeniculate pathway of the macaque monkey.

Briggs F, Usrey WM

Neuron.. 2009 April 1662 (1):135-46. Epub 1900 01 01.

Modulation of gamma-band activity across local cortical circuits.

Briggs F, Usrey WM

Frontiers in integrative neuroscience.. 2009 3 :15. Epub 07/07/2009.

Emerging views of corticothalamic function.

Briggs F, Usrey WM

Current opinion in neurobiology.. 2008 August 18 (4):403-7. Epub 10/06/2008.

A fast, reciprocal pathway between the lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex in the macaque monkey.

Briggs F, Usrey WM

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.. 2007 May 1627 (20):5431-6. Epub 1900 01 01.

Cortical activity influences geniculocortical spike efficacy in the macaque monkey.

Briggs F, Usrey WM

Frontiers in integrative neuroscience.. 2007 1 :3. Epub 11/30/2007.

Temporal properties of feedforward and feedback pathways between the thalamus and visual cortex in the ferret.

Briggs F, Usrey WM

Thalamus & related systems.. 2005 June 3 (2):133-139. Epub 1900 01 01.

Laminar patterns of local excitatory input to layer 5 neurons in macaque primary visual cortex.

Briggs F, Callaway EM

Cerebral cortex.. 2005 May 15 (5):479-88. Epub 08/18/2004.

A shrewd insight for vision.

Briggs F, Usrey WM

Nature neuroscience.. 2004 August 7 (8):796-7. Epub 1900 01 01.

Layer-specific input to distinct cell types in layer 6 of monkey primary visual cortex.

Briggs F, Callaway EM

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.. 2001 May 1521 (10):3600-8. Epub 1900 01 01.

Books

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (2017)

Chapter: Mammalian visual system organization

The New Visual Neurosciences (2014)

Chapter: Functional properties of cortical feedback to the primate lateral geniculate nucleus

Encyclopedia of Perception (2008)

Chapter: Visual system structure

Encyclopedia of Perception (2008)

Chapter: Visual processing: primary visual cortex

Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (2008)

Chapter: Corticothalamic connections: structure and function