Geoffrey F. Woodman
Professor of Psychology
E. Bronson Ingram Chair of Neuroscience, Director of National Eye Institute T32
Geoff Woodman's research examines how mechanisms of visual attention and memory influence how we interact with the world around us. Specifically, how the primate visual system performs figure-ground segregation, attentional deployment during the processing of complex scenes, storage of information in visual memory, and cognitive control during task performance.
Representative Publications
Westerberg, J.A., Schall, M.S., Maier, A., Schall, J.D. & Woodman, G.F. (2022) Cortical columns in area V4 produce the event-related potential index of attention. eLife. 11: e72139.
Sutterer, D.W., Polyn, S.M. & Woodman, G.F. (2021). Alpha-band activity tracks a 2-dimensional spotlight of attention during spatial working memory maintenance. Journal of Neurophysiology, 125(3), 957-971.
Wang, S. Megla, E.E. & Woodman, G.F. (2021). Stimulus induced alpha suppression tracks the difficulty of attentional selection, not visual working memory storage. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 33 (3), 536-562.
Zhao, C. & Woodman, G.F. (2021). Converging evidence that neural plasticity underlies transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation (tDCS). Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 33(1), 146-157.
Rajsic, J., Carlisle, N.B. & Woodman, G.F. (2020). What not to look for: Electrophysiological evidence that searchers prefer positive templates. Neuropsychologia, 140, 107376. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107376.
Errington, S., Woodman, G.F., & Schall, J.D. (2020). Dissociation of medial frontal beta-bursts and executive control. Journal of Neuroscience, 40(48), 9272-9282.
Herrera, B., Sajad, A. Woodman, G.F., Schall, J.D., & Riera, J. (2020). A minimal biophysical model of neocortical pyramidal cells: Implications for frontal cortex microcircuitry and field potential generation. Journal of Neuroscience, 40(44), 8513-8529.
Reinhart, R.M.G., Park, S. & Woodman, G.F. (2019). Localization and elimination of attentional dysfunction in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 45(1), 96-105.PMCID: PMC6293221.
Wang, S., Rajsic, J. & Woodman, G.F. (2019). The contralateral delay activity tracks the sequential loading of visual working memory, unlike alpha suppression. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 31, 1689-1698.
Servant, M., Cassey, P., Logan, G.D. & Woodman, G.F. (2018). The neural bases of automaticity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 44(3), 440-464.PMCID: PMC5862722.
Cosman, J.D., Lowe, K.A., Zinke, W., Woodman, G.F., & Schall, J.D. (2018). Prefrontal control of visual distraction. Current Biology, 28(3), 414-420.PMCID: PMC5922980.
Reinhart, R.M.G., Cosman, J.D., Fukuda, K., & Woodman, G.F. (2017). Using transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) to understand cognitive processing. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 79(1), 3-23.PMCID: PMC5539401.
Fukuda, K. & Woodman, G.F. (2017). Visual working memory buffers information retrieved from visual long-term memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 114(20), 5306-5311. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1617874114. PMCID: PMC5441785.
Reinhart, R.M.G., Xiao, W., McClenahan, L.J. & Woodman, G.F. (2016). Electrical stimulation of visual cortex can immediately improve spatial vision. Current Biology, 26(14), 1867-1872. PMCID: PMC4961578.
Reinhart, R.M.G., McClenahan, L.J. & Woodman, G.F. (2016). Attention’s accelerator. Psychological Science, 27, 790-798.PMCID: PMC4899122
Reinhart, R.M.G., Zhu, J., Park, S. & Woodman, G.F. (2015). Synchronizing theta oscillations with direct-current stimulation restores adaptive control in schizophrenia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 112(30), 9448-9453. PMCID: PMC4522782.
Reinhart, R.M.G. & Woodman, G.F. (2015). Enhancing long-term memory with stimulation tunes visual attention in one trial. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112, 625-630. PMCID: PMC4299199.
Fukuda, K. & Woodman, G.F. (2015). Predicting and improving recognition memory using single-trial electrophysiology. Psychological Science, 26, 1026-1037. PMC4643667.
Reinhart, R.M.G. McClenahan, L.J. & Woodman, G.F. (2015). Visualizing trumps vision when training attention. Psychological Science, 26, 1114-1122. PMCID: PMC4504754.
Reinhart, R.M.G. & Woodman, G.F. (2015). The surprising temporal specificity of direct-current stimulation. Trends in Neurosciences, 38, 459-461.
Reinhart, R.M.G., Zhu, J., Park, S. & Woodman, G.F. (2015). Synchronizing theta oscillations with direct-current stimulation restores adaptive control in schizophrenia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 112(30), 9448-9453. PMCID: PMC4522782.
Reinhart, R.M.G., Zhu, J., Park, S. & Woodman, G.F. (2015). Medial-frontal stimulation enhances learning in schizophrenia by restoring prediction-error signaling. Journal of Neuroscience, 35, 12232-12240. PMCID: PMC4556788.
Kang, M.-S. & Woodman, G.F. (2014). Probing the role of microsaccades in the generation of human neurophysiological index of visual working memory maintenance. Neuropsychologia, 56, 63-72. PMCID: PMC3974880.
Reinhart, R.M.G. & Woodman, G.F. (2014). Causal control of medial-frontal cortex governs performance monitoring and learning. Journal of Neuroscience, 34, 4214-4227. PMCID: PMC3960465.
Godlove, D.C., Maier, A., Woodman, G.F. & Schall, J.D. (2014). Microcircuitry of agranular frontal cortex relative to the canonical cortical microcircuit. Journal of Neuroscience, 34, 5355-5369. PMCID: PMC3983808.
Reinhart, R.M.G. & Woodman, G.F. (2014). High stakes trigger the use of multiple memories to enhance the control of attention. Cerebral Cortex, 24, 2022-2035. PMCID: PMC4089381.
Honors
Young Investigator Award from the Vision Sciences Society, 2012
Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences, 2016
Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Award for Research (for work with Sohee Park), 2016
Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Faculty Fellow, 2017-2018
Named E. Bronson Ingram Chair of Neuroscience, 2021