About

Anita Disney is an Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at Duke University. She is a member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Faculty Network and the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. Her research focuses on neurobiology, and she is involved in the academic and research activities at Duke, contributing to the understanding of brain functions and cognitive processes.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Biology
• Cognitive psychology
• Endocrinology
• Physics
• Pharmacology

Selected publications

• Integrated metabolomics and proteomics from voxelated cortical hemispheres of adult rhesus monkeys

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-04-07

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The spatial organization of molecular networks across cortex likely contributes to differences in local circuit vulnerability in aging and Alzheimer's disease; yet many existing molecular datasets sacrifice spatial structure, sampling only a handful of regions per brain. Here, we present a framework for generating spatially registered, paired metabolomic and proteomic maps across an entire cortical hemisphere of an adult rhesus monkey, at millimeter resolution. One hemisphere each from two animals was harvested under controlled conditions, approximately flattened, and hand dissected at different sampling resolutions (roughly 2.5 and 4 mm/side) into tissue voxels. Each voxel was split after homogenization and extraction to provide matched aliquots for targeted metabolomics and deep untargeted proteomics. To handle these high dimensional data, we developed PChclust, a principal component guided feature clustering algorithm. For cross omic integration, we developed a spatially regularized sparse canonical correlation analysis (sr-sCCA), which incorporates spatial neighborhood structure via graph Laplacian smoothing. We recover meaningful biology: Molecular similarity between neighboring voxels decayed with distance in both modalities, confirming that voxelation captures spatially organized biological variance. The sr-sCCA identified joint proteome-metabolome components with coherent cortical gradients that were conserved across animals. Pathway enrichment analysis recovered brain relevant ontologies and reconstructed complete metabolic circuits from single voxels.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Data from: Integrated metabolomics and proteomics from voxelated cortical hemispheres of adult rhesus monkeys

  Research Data Repository, Duke University · 2026-01-01

  datasetOpen accessSenior author

  <strong>*Data embargoed until publication of related article, or up to no more than 1 year from data upload.*</strong><br>One hemisphere each from two animals was harvested under controlled conditions, approximately flattened, and hand dissected at different sampling resolutions (roughly 2.5 and 4 mm/side) into tissue voxels. Each voxel was split after homogenization and extraction to provide matched aliquots for targeted metabolomics and deep untargeted proteomics by mass spectrometry. The data in this repository come from the proteomics portion of this approach. This deposit contains two large protein level quantification proteomics input files that were not included in a GitHub repository associated with this manuscript, because their file sizes exceed GitHub's recommended and/or allowed limits for convenient version control. All downstream analysis code, processed data used in the manuscript, and paper figures are available in the associated GitHub repository: https://github.com/QiuyiWu/Spatial-Multiomics

  PublisherDOI

• Release and Reuptake Sites for Norepinephrine Are Differently Distributed Across Layers of the Primary Visual Cortex in Macaque Monkeys

  The Journal of Comparative Neurology · 2025-11-01

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Norepinephrine (NE) is released in cortex by axons arising from the locus coeruleus (LC). The cortical innervation patterns from LC have been mapped previously using antibodies directed against the vesicular synthetic enzyme for NE, dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH), which provides information about putative release sites. We sought to quantify putative NE reuptake sites by immunolabeling the norepinephrine transporter (NET), focusing on the primary (V1) and secondary (V2) visual cortex of macaque monkeys. We used stereological methods to determine the density of axon segments immunoreactive for NET (NET+ segments) in V1 and V2, and non-stereological methods to compare the laminar distribution of NET+ segments and to compare the distribution of NET+ segments in V1 with segments immunoreactive for DBH (DBH+). We also developed a novel analysis approach on the basis of Bayesian statistics that allowed us to combine these quantitative data with qualitative data from previously published studies to generate and compare updated estimates of LC axon density. In line with prior reports based on DBH immunoreactivity, we find that LC axon density is higher in V2 than in V1 and has a similar laminar pattern across both areas. We also find that densities of DBH+ and NET+ segments differ across the layers of V1. This indicates that sites of NE release and reuptake may not be colocated and suggests a role for differing scales of diffusion in cortical modulatory effects mediated by NE.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Author response for "Release and Reuptake Sites for Norepinephrine Are Differently Distributed Across Layers of the Primary Visual Cortex in Macaque Monkeys"

  2025-09-03

  peer-reviewSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Neuromodulation in Cortical Circuits

  2023-11-23

  book-chapterSenior author

  Abstract The processing “state” of a cortical circuit is, in part, dynamically specified by the extracellular concentration of tens to hundreds of neuromodulatory molecules that originate from tissues across the brain and body. This neuromodulation is critical for proper cortical function, yet is relatively poorly understood. With a focus on primate cortex, this chapter introduces the 5 major neuromodulators of subcortical origin that are active in cortical circuits—acetylcholine, dopamine, histamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin—and also briefly considers the modulatory actions of the primary cortical neurotransmitters, glutamate and GABA. Particular attention is paid to the implications of the multiple cellular integrators for modulatory signals, and to evidence for, and consequences of, extrasynaptic transmission.

  PublisherDOI

• Neuromodulatory Control of Early Visual Processing in Macaque

  Annual Review of Vision Science · 2021 · 25 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  • Biology

  Visual processing is dynamically controlled by multiple neuromodulatory molecules that modify the responsiveness of neurons and the strength of the connections between them. In particular, modulatory control of processing in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, V1, and V2 will alter the outcome of all subsequent processing of visual information, including the extent to and manner in which individual inputs contribute to perception and decision making and are stored in memory. This review addresses five small-molecule neuromodulators-acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline, and histamine-considering the structural basis for their action, and the effects of their release, in the early visual pathway of the macaque monkey. Traditionally, neuromodulators are studied in isolation and in discrete circuits; this review makes a case for considering the joint action of modulatory molecules and differences in modulatory effects across brain areas as a better means of understanding the diverse roles that these molecules serve.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Review for "Neuronal Localization of m1 Muscarinic Receptor Immunoreactivity in the Monkey Basolateral Amygdala"

  2021-01-01

  peer-reviewOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• A multi-site array for combined local electrochemistry and electrophysiology in the non-human primate brain

  UNC Libraries · 2020-11-04

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Currently, the primary technique employed in circuit-level study of the brain is electrophysiology, recording local field or action potentials (LFPs or APs). However most communication between neurons is chemical and the relationship between electrical activity within neurons and chemical signaling between them is not well understood in vivo, particularly for molecules that signal at least in part by non-synaptic transmission.

  PublisherDOI

• Diverse Spatiotemporal Scales of Cholinergic Signaling in the Neocortex

  Journal of Neuroscience · 2020 · 76 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Neuroscience
  • Biology
  • Psychology

  Forebrain Cholinergic Signaling: Wired and Phasic, Not Tonic, and Causing Behavior, by Martin Sarter and Cindy Lustig.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Review for "Neuronal Localization of m1 Muscarinic Receptor Immunoreactivity in the Monkey Basolateral Amygdala"

  2020-12-08

  peer-review1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Bi-directional, task-dependent control of thalamic input gain, in layer 4c of the primary visual cortex, by the cholinergic and serotonergic neuromodulatory systems.

  NIH · $2.1M · 2019–2024

• Cholinergic Mechanisms in Spatial Attention

  NIH · $747k · 2011–2017

• NIH Grant F32EY021122

  NIH · $24k · 2011

• Cholinergic Mechanisms in Spatial Attention

  NIH · $175k · 2011–2014

Frequent coauthors

• Michael J. Hawken

  New York University

  8 shared

• Dario L. Ringach

  University of California, Los Angeles

  5 shared

• Christopher Henry

  Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

  5 shared

• Jennifer J. Coppola

  Pfizer (United States)

  5 shared

• Dajun Xing

  Beijing Normal University

  5 shared

• Christine M. Constantinople

  New York University

  4 shared

• Elizabeth Johnson

  Virtua Voorhees Hospital

  4 shared

• Siddartha Joshi

  University of Pennsylvania

  4 shared

Labs

• Leah Acker, MD, PhD Department of AnesthesiologyPI

Education

• PhD, Center for Neural Science

  New York University

  2005

• BA (Hons), Psychology

  Australian National University

  1998