Research interests


  • Role of attention in learning and memory
  • Anatomical vs. functional connectivity of attentional control areas
  • Transfer of working memory training to novel domains (e.g., reasoning, second language learning)
  • Multi-modal neuroimaging analysis: diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI), fMRI, anatomical MRI
  • Validation and reliability testing of white matter fiber tractography

CV and Contact Information

Curriculum vitae | My Schneider Lab profile

Please contact me by e-mail:

  • jeffrey.s.phillips (my gmail address)
  • jeffreyp (my pitt address)

Or at my office address:

  • 3939 O'Hara St.
  • Learning Research & Development Center, Room 631
  • Pittsburgh, PA 15260

High Definition Fiber Tracking


Fronto-parietal white matter fiber tracts


New imaging methods are giving cognitive neuroscientists the ability to investigate human neuroanatomy in extremely high resolution. Our lab is using non-invasive, MRI-based diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) to examine white matter fiber tracts throughout the brain. In my dissertation work, I am comparing the strength of connectivity between brain areas to results from dissection and tracer studies in non-human primates.

Brain Fitness Training


Complex WM training


An individual's working memory capacity can be a strong predictor of how he/she performs in a wide variety of cognitive domains. The tantalizing implication is that by improving working memory (WM), we may be able to improve people's performance on a number of untrained tasks. We are currently investigating the promise of learning transfer after intensive working memory training, using a task adapted from the lab of Dr. Randy Engle at the University of Georgia (Chein & Morrison, 2010, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review; Redick & Engle, 2006, Applied Cognitive Psychology). Participants alternate between verbal and spatial WM tasks. In both, they must memorize a variable number of stimuli (letters or spatial locations), while concurrently performing a distracting decision task (involving either lexicality or symmetry judgments). At test, the participants must recall the memory stimuli in the correct order. Importantly, these tasks are adaptive, increasing in difficulty as participants become more practiced at them.

Comparison of Brain Structure and Function


Brain structure vs. function


High-resolution tractography methods offer the chance to compare white matter connectivity with measures of brain function, such as BOLD activation. In this image (a single participant), we compare brain activity from a visual attention task (exogenously cued pro- and anti-saccades) to the density of fibers connecting frontal and parietal areas. As predicted, we find that key regions of interest (frontal and parietal eye fields) correspond to areas of dense white matter connectivity between them.

Manuscripts:

Phillips, J. S., Velanova, K., Wolk, D. A., & Wheeler, M. E. (2009). Left posterior parietal cortex participates in both task preparation and episodic retrieval. NeuroImage, 46(4), 1209-1221.

Phillips, J.S., Laurent, P.A., Guediche, S.A., Bolger, D.J., Perfetti, C.A., & Fiez, J.A. (in preparation). Evidence of functionally distinct areas in left occipito-temporal cortex: effects of stimulus duration.

Nelson, S. M., Cohen, A. L., Power, J. D., Wig, G. S., Miezin, F. M., Wheeler, M. E., Velanova, K., Donaldson, D. I., Phillips, J. S., Schlaggar, B. L., & Petersen, S. E. (2010). A Parcellation Scheme for Human Left Parietal Cortex. Neuron, 67(1), 156-170.

Select Conference Presentations

Phillips, J. S., Braun, E. M., Workman, B., Horan, L., Schunn, C. D., & Schneider, W. W. (2011). Transfer Effects after Ten Days of Intensive Cognitive Training. Psychonomic Society 2011 Annual Meeting.

Phillips, J. S., Pathak, S. K., Verstynen, T., & Schneider, W. W. (2010). High-definition fiber tracking of human cortical eye fields. 2010 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, San Diego.

Verstynen, T., Jarbo, K., Pathak, S. K., Phillips, J. S., and Schneider, W. (2010). Characterizing the topography of corticospinal pathways with high-definition fiber tractography. 2010 Organization for Human Brain Mapping Annual Meeting, Barcelona.