Robert Friedman, Ph.D., is a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Neuroscience at the ONPRC.

Dr. Friedman is interested in understanding cortical underpinnings of sensory perception. By comparing cortical responses in both visual and somatosensory cortices, a goal of this research is to reveal whether the cerebral cortex uses similar approaches to process different kinds of sensory information. To address this topic, the laboratory utilizes intracortical microstimulation, including optogenetics, infrared neural stimulation and electrical stimulation, along with intrinsic optical imaging and single unit electrophysiology in awake and anesthetized animals to probe cortical circuitry. Understanding how the cerebral cortex processes sensory information will lead to better brain-machine interfaces that could provide sensory substitution after spinal cord injury or blindness.

Dr. Friedman received his Ph.D. in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Florida in 1995. He continued his training in sensory systems neuroscience in the laboratory of Robert H. LaMotte at Yale University. From 2003 through 2015, he was a Senior Research Associate at Vanderbilt University working in the laboratory of Anna Roe, an affiliation that continued at OHSU. Since 2018 Dr. Friedman has been a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Neuroscience at OHSU – ONPRC.

Current projects:

-- Postnatal development of foveal visual processing in the cerebral cortex of rhesus macaques

-- Cortical representation of tactile finger sensation in rhesus macaques and squirrel monkeys

-- Development of wireless technology for optical imaging, neural recording, and optical stimulation in macaques for the study of natural behaviors