Leah Krubitzer

About

Professor Leah Krubitzer is associated with the Laboratory of Evolutionary Neurobiology at UC Davis. Her research focuses on the neurobiological aspects of evolution, particularly examining how the brain has developed and adapted across different species. The laboratory investigates the neural mechanisms underlying sensory processing, cortical organization, and behavioral adaptations, contributing to a deeper understanding of brain evolution and function.

Research topics

• Neuroscience
• Biology
• Psychology
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Science
• Communication
• Programming language
• Evolutionary biology
• Mathematics
• Cognitive science

Selected publications

• Distributed Motor Control of Limb Movements in Rat Motor and Somatosensory Cortex: The Sensorimotor Amalgam Revisited

  Cerebral Cortex · 2020 · 67 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Which areas of the neocortex are involved in the control of movement, and how is motor cortex organized across species? Recent studies using long-train intracortical microstimulation demonstrate that in addition to M1, movements can be elicited from somatosensory regions in multiple species. In the rat, M1 hindlimb and forelimb movement representations have long been thought to overlap with somatosensory representations of the hindlimb and forelimb in S1, forming a partial sensorimotor amalgam.…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Of mice and monkeys: Somatosensory processing in two prominent animal models

  Progress in Neurobiology · 2021 · 49 citations

  Our understanding of the neural basis of somatosensation is based largely on studies of the whisker system of mice and rats and the hands of macaque monkeys. Results across these animal models are often interpreted as providing direct insight into human somatosensation. Work on these systems has proceeded in parallel, capitalizing on the strengths of each model, but has rarely been considered as a whole. This lack of integration promotes a piecemeal understanding of somatosensation. Here, we exa…

  PublisherDOI

• Evolution of Parietal Cortex in Mammals: From Manipulation to Tool Use

  Elsevier eBooks · 2020 · 25 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Coevolution of motor cortex and behavioral specializations associated with flight and echolocation in bats

  Current Biology · 2022-05-25 · 15 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Functional characterization of the fronto-parietal reaching and grasping network: reversible deactivation of M1 and areas 2, 5, and 7b in awake behaving monkeys

  Journal of Neurophysiology · 2022-04-13 · 12 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  This is the first study to directly compare the results of cooling different portions of the fronto-parietal reaching and grasping network (motor cortex, anterior and posterior parietal cortex) in the same animals and the first to employ a complex, bimanual reaching and grasping task that is ethologically relevant. Whereas cooling area 7b or area 5L evoked deficits at distinct task phases, cooling M1 evoked a general set of deficits and cooling area 2 evoked proprioceptive deficits.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R21NS071225

  NIH · $365k · 2013

• Development of a Microfluidic Thermal Regulator for Studies of Cortical Function

  NIH · $384k · 2012–2014

• Effects of Reversible Deactivation of Posterior Parietal Cortex in New World Cebu

  NIH · $150k · 2013–2017

Frequent coauthors

• Elizabeth A. Disbrow

  Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport

  33 shared

• Dylan F. Cooke

  Simon Fraser University

  24 shared

• Jon H. Kaas

  Vanderbilt University

  24 shared

• Ann B. Butler

  24 shared

• Jeffrey Padberg

  Conway School of Landscape Design

  20 shared

• Katharine L. Campi

  University of California, Davis

  15 shared

• Kelly J. Huffman

  14 shared

• Mackenzie Englund

  University of California, Davis

  12 shared

Labs

• Krubitzer LaboratoryPI

Education

• Distinguished Professor, Center for Neuroscience and Department of Psychology

  University of California Davis

Awards & honors

• MacArthur Fellowship (1998)
• Herrick Award from the American Association of Anatomists (1…
• Special Lecture for the Society for Neuroscience Meeting (19…
• James McKeen Cattell Sabbatical Fellowship (2002-2003)
• Bloedel Visiting Scientist Fellowship at the University of W…

Similar researchers at University of California, Davis

• Steven J. Luckh-104
• Charan Ranganathh-87
• Pamela J. Leinh-73