Eve De Rosa, Ph.D

Assistant Professor of Psychology

derosa @ psych.utoronto.ca
416 978 3401

I grew up in Bermuda and ultimately HAD to leave for University. Thankfully, my family still lives there. I attended Vassar College for my undergraduate studies and Harvard University for my graduate studies. I was trained in animal neuroscience at Harvard 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 at the University of Toronto.

There will be a potential opening for graduate level training in the rat lab, so I encourage you to apply to our Psychology graduate program by December 15th if you are interested in our rat work.

Comparative Cognitive Neuroscience

Thus far, the field of cognitive neuroscience has primarily focused on the neuroanatomy of attention and learning. Here we also consider the neurochemistry of these cognitive processes. Specifically, we examine the contributions of the cholinergic basal forebrain, the major source of the neurochemical acetylcholine to the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, to normal cognition. In rats, we employ pharmacological and cholinergic immunotoxic lesioning techniques. And in humans, we employ behavioural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques in populations associated with cholinergic deficiency.
  • Botly, L.C.P.* & De Rosa, E. (in press) Cholinergic deafferentation of the neocortex impairs feature binding in rats. Journal of Neuroscience
  • Botly, L.C.P.* & De Rosa, E. (in press) The nucleus basalis magnocellularis contributes to feature binding in the rat. Physiology & Behavior.
  • Dixon, M.L.*, Ruppel, J.*, Pratt, J. & De Rosa, E. (in press) Learning to Ignore: Acquisition of Sustained Attentional Suppression. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. [view pdf]
  • Dixon, M.L.*, Zelazo, P. David & De Rosa E. (in press) Evidence for Intact Memory-guided Attention in School-Aged Children. Developmental Science.
  • Schmitz, T.W. & De Rosa, E. (forthcoming) Learning to Ignore: Neural correlates of Acquired Attentional Suppression.
  • Botly, L.C.P.* & De Rosa, E. (2008) Acetylcholine, attention, and feature binding: A cross-species investigation. Psychological Science, 19, 1185-93. [view pdf]
  • 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. [view pdf]
  • Botly, L.C.P.* & De Rosa, E. (2007) Cholinergic influences on feature binding. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121, 264-276. [view pdf]
  • De Rosa, E., Desmond, J.E., Anderson, A.K., Pfefferbaum, A., & Sullivan, E.V. (2004). The human basal forebrain supports integration of new with old learning. Neuron, 41, 825-837. [view pdf]
  • De Rosa, E. & Sullivan, E.V. (2003) Enhanced release from proactive interference in nonamnesic alcoholics: Implications for impaired associative binding. Neuropsychology, 17, 469-481. [view pdf]
  • De Rosa, E., Hasselmo, M.E. & Baxter, M.G. (2001) Contribution of the cholinergic basal forebrain to proactive interference from stored odor memories during associative learning in rats. Behavioral Neuroscience, 115, 314-327. [view pdf]
  • De Rosa, E. & Hasselmo, M.E. (2000) Muscarinic cholinergic neuromodulation reduces proactive interference between stored odor memories during acquisition learning in rats. Behavioral Neuroscience, 114, 32-41. [view pdf]