Cognitive Neuroscience Section - Division of Intramural Research

 Jordan   Grafman  Ph.D., Senior Investigator

Dr. Grafman received his B.A. degree from Sonoma State University in California and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981. Immediately following his graduation, Dr. Grafman became the Neuropsychology Chief on the Vietnam Head Injury Study, a multidisciplinary study conducted at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. In 1986, he joined the NINDS as a Senior Staff Fellow in the Clinical Neuropsychology Section. In 1989, Dr. Grafman became Chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section in the NINDS. He is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association and has received both the Defense Meritorious Service Award and the National Institutes of Health Award of Merit. Dr. Grafman's Section is attempting to identify the nature of representational knowledge stored in the human prefrontal cortex, the cognitive properties of representational binding that form episodes in memory, and the types of cognitive neuroplasticity that occur during learning and recovery from brain damage.

Laboratory Staff

Aron Barbey, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow , 301-402- 6392
Sandra Bonifant, B.S., Program Coordinator , 301-594- 5751
Karen DeTucci, M.A., Research Associate
Kris Knutson, M.A., Research Assistant , 301-402- 6920
Frank Krueger, Ph.D., Research Fellow , 301-435- 1583
Anne Leopold, B.A., Research Associate
Carolee Noury, M.A., Research Assistant
Dan Ruchkin, Ph.D., Adjunct Investigator , 301-402- 6395
Andres Salazar, M.D., Adjunct Investigator , 301-496- 0220
Michael Tierney, M.A., Patient Coordinator , 301-496- 0221
Justin Vassar, B.A., Research Assistant

Research Interests

The major goal of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section is to characterize the forms of knowledge represented in the human prefrontal cortex. While it is believed that the prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role in planning, social cognition, reasoning, and reflection, scientists remain puzzled about its underlying cognitive architecture and the number of circumscribed prefrontal cortex brain sectors subserving specific cognitive operations and/or knowledge. We have developed a framework that specifies some of the characteristics of the prefrontal cortex's cognitive architecture. We have termed the bound memory units stored in the prefrontal cortex the structured event knowledge complex . Numerous ongoing studies in the Section are dedicated to testing hypotheses generated by the framework we have adapted.

Clinical Protocols

Testing A Model of the Representational Knowledge Stored in the Human Prefrontal Cortex  02-N-0001

Functional Neuroimaging of Calculus Problem Solving  03-N-0178

Functional Neuroimaging of Social Cognitive and Emotional Processing: Technical and Cognitive Issues  03-N-0195

Regional Cerebral Utilization of Glucose in Patients with a Diagnosis of Frontal Lobe Dementia, Atypical Parkinsonian Disorder, and Other Basal Ganglia Disorders  81-N-0010

Social Knowledge Representation in the Human Prefrontal Cortex  03-N-0196

Reasoning About Social and Economic Knowledge: Identifying the Role of the Human Prefrontal Cortex Using Functional Neuroimaging  03-N-0197

Selected Recent Publications

Krueger, F., McCabe, K., Moll, J., Kriegeskorte, N., Zahn, R., Strenziok, M., Heinecke, A., and Grafman, J.
The Neural Correlates of Trust - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  104 (50) 20084-20089 2007

Krueger, F., Moll, J., Zahn, R., Heinecke, A., and Grafman, J.
Event Frequency Modulates the Processing of Daily Life Activities in Human Medial Prefrontal Cortex - Cerebral Cortex  17 2346-2353 2007

Zahn, R., Moll, J., Krueger, F., Huey, E.D., Garrido, G., and Grafman, J.
Social Concepts are Represented in the Superior Anterior Temporal Cortex - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  104 (15) 6430-6435 2007

Knutson, K.M., Mah, L., Manly, C.F., and Grafman, J.
Neural Correlates of Automatic Beliefs about Gender and Race - Human Brain Mapping  28 (10) 915-930 2007

Moll, J., Krueger, F., Zahn, R., Pardini, M., de Oliveira-Souza, R., and Grafman, J.
Human Fronto-mesolimbic Networks Guide Decisions about Charitable Donation. - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  103 (42) 15623-15628 2006

Moll, J., Zahn, R., de Oliveira-Souza, R., Krueger, F., and Grafman, J.
The neural basis of human moral cognition - Nature Reviews Neuroscience  6 (10) 799-809 2005

Selected Earlier Publications

Contact Information

Chief, Cognitive Neuroscience Section National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke   Building 10; Room 7D43   MSC 1440  Bethesda MD  20892-1440

Telephone: 301-496- 0220 (office), 301- 496-0220 (laboratory), 301-480- 2909 (fax), Email: grafmanj@ninds.nih.gov