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Peter M. Kaskan, Ph.D.

Peter M. Kaskan, Ph.D.

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About Me

My work seeks to determine the neural circuits by which stimuli become behaviorally relevant, and how that information is represented in the brain, influencing actions and choices, and giving rise to human emotional experiences. The human experience also involves learning about “good” and “bad” stim...
My work seeks to determine the neural circuits by which stimuli become behaviorally relevant, and how that information is represented in the brain, influencing actions and choices, and giving rise to human emotional experiences. The human experience also involves learning about “good” and “bad” stimuli and making choices to overcome aversive stimuli and events, which can involve new learning or cognitive mechanisms of control or reappraisal.
The amygdala is a central node in circuits processing affective stimuli that can elicit emotions. Although the amygdala is closely linked to emotional and mental health, it has been difficult to understand its precise role in certain operations and develop evidence-based interventions in humans because it is involved in multiple, overlapping functions.
These functions likely depend on extensive connections with cortical areas such as the anterior cingulate (ACC), ventromedial prefrontal (vmPFC; sometimes called subgenual ACC in the clinical literature), and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).
I use the opportunity afforded by human neurosurgical procedures to record local field potentials (LFPs) and single-unit spiking activity from subcortical areas in human patients undergoing deep brain stimulation and intracranial recordings (iEEG). Clinically implanted electrodes are used to record data and casually manipulate amygdala and ACC circuits by delivering stimulation during behavioral performance.
Dr. Kaskan joined the faculty of Neurological Surgery in September 2020 after training in intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring for deep brain stimulation at the University of Louisville following his postdoctoral fellowship in the Laboratory of Neuropsychology at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr Kaskan received a secondary appointment in Neuroscience at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in August 2023. He collaborates with research groups at the University of Iowa, University of Rochester, and Weill-Cornell Medicine.
Dr. Kaskan received his bachelor's degree from Clark University and went on to study at Cornell University and RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Tokyo, Japan. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology (Neuroscience) from Vanderbilt University and completed his postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health, with partial support from a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant from the Brain and Behavior Foundation (2014).

Faculty Appointments

Adjunct Assistant Professor - Department of Neuroscience (SMD)

Research

Publications

Journal Articles

Attention to Stimuli of Learned versus Innate Biological Value Relies on Separate Neural Systems.

Kaskan PM, Nicholas MA, Dean AM, Murray EA

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.. 2022 December 742 (49):9242-9252. Epub 11/01/2022.

Gustatory responses in macaque monkeys revealed with fMRI: Comments on taste, taste preference, and internal state.

Kaskan PM, Dean AM, Nicholas MA, Mitz AR, Murray EA

NeuroImage.. 2019 January 1184 :932-942. Epub 10/03/2018.

Learned Value Shapes Responses to Objects in Frontal and Ventral Stream Networks in Macaque Monkeys.

Kaskan PM, Costa VD, Eaton HP, Zemskova JA, Mitz AR, Leopold DA, Ungerleider LG, Murray EA

Cerebral cortex.. 2017 May 127 (5):2739-2757. Epub 1900 01 01.

Cortical and subcortical connections of V1 and V2 in early postnatal macaque monkeys.

Baldwin MK, Kaskan PM, Zhang B, Chino YM, Kaas JH

The Journal of comparative neurology.. 2012 February 15520 (3):544-69. Epub 1900 01 01.

Orientation and Direction-of-Motion Response in the Middle Temporal Visual Area (MT) of New World Owl Monkeys as Revealed by Intrinsic-Signal Optical Imaging.

Kaskan PM, Dillenburger BC, Lu HD, Roe AW, Kaas JH

Frontiers in neuroanatomy.. 2010 4 :23. Epub 07/07/2010.

Intrinsic-signal optical imaging reveals cryptic ocular dominance columns in primary visual cortex of New World owl monkeys.

Kaskan PM, Lu HD, Dillenburger BC, Roe AW, Kaas JH

Frontiers in neuroscience.. 2007 October 151 (1):67-75. Epub 1900 01 01.

Cortical connections of the middle temporal and the middle temporal crescent visual areas in prosimian galagos (Otolemur garnetti).

Kaskan PM, Kaas JH

The anatomical record : advances in integrative anatomy and evolutionary biology.. 2007 March 290 (3):349-66. Epub 1900 01 01.

Optical imaging of visually evoked responses in the middle temporal area after deactivation of primary visual cortex in adult primates.

Collins CE, Xu X, Khaytin I, Kaskan PM, Casagrande VA, Kaas JH

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.. 2005 April 12102 (15):5594-9. Epub 04/04/2005.

Peripheral variability and central constancy in mammalian visual system evolution.

Kaskan PM, Franco EC, Yamada ES, Silveira LC, Darlington RB, Finlay BL

Proceedings. Biological sciences. 2005 January 7272 (1558):91-100. Epub 1900 01 01.

Optical imaging of visually evoked responses in prosimian primates reveals conserved features of the middle temporal visual area.

Xu X, Collins CE, Kaskan PM, Khaytin I, Kaas JH, Casagrande VA

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.. 2004 February 24101 (8):2566-71. Epub 1900 01 01.