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College Girton College
Department
  • Physiology, Development and Neuroscience
    • School
  • Biological Sciences
    • Institute
  • Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute
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    Research Theme Neurons, Circuits and Networks Adaptive Brain Computations Lifelong Brain Development and Brain Ageing

    Other Interdiciplinary Incentives

  • SBS Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour theme

    • Research Focus

    Keywords

  • Emotion
  • Emotion Dysregulation
  • Cognitive Flexibility
  • Prefrontal Cortex

    • Clinical Conditions

  • Anxiety disorders
  • Depressive disorders

    • Equipment & Techniques

  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
  • Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
  • Behavioural analysis

    • Science Culture

  • Teaching

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    Professor Angela Roberts FMedSci

    University Position
    Professor
    Professor Angela Roberts is pleased to consider applications from prospective PhD students.

    Interests

    I am interested in the brain networks underlying cognitive and emotional behaviour. In particular, my research focuses on the executive control functions of the prefrontal cortex and related brain structures, including the basal ganglia and the amygdala, and the modulation of these circuits by the monoamines. The experimental approach combines chemogenetic, pharmacological, cardiovascular, neuroimaging and genetic techniques with sophisticated cognitive and emotional testing procedures. Since many of the behavioural tests that we use can also be administered to patients, our results directly extrapolate to the clinical setting. The research is currently funded by the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and the Foundation for OCD research.

    Brain development across adolescent marmosets

    Imaging across various stages of development is providing a window into the different stages of the developing brain

    Collaborators

    Cambridge
  • Ed Bullmore
  • Trevor Robbins
  • Hannah Clarke
  • Keita Tamura
    • External
  • Afonso Silva

    • Associated News Items

    Key Publications

    Chemogenetics identifies separate area 25 brain circuits involved in anhedonia and anxiety in marmosets.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.ade1779
    Journal: Sci Transl Med
    E-pub date: 5 Apr 2023
    Authors: CM Wood, L Alexander, J Alsiö, AM Santangelo, L McIver, GJ Cockcroft, AC Roberts

    The Aversive Lens: Stress effects on the prefrontal-cingulate cortical pathways that regulate emotion.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.105000
    Journal: Neurosci Biobehav Rev
    E-pub date: 1 Feb 2023
    Authors: AFT Arnsten, MKP Joyce, AC Roberts

    Differential Effects of the Inactivation of Anterior and Posterior Orbitofrontal Cortex on Affective Responses to Proximal and Distal Threat, and Reward Anticipation in the Common Marmoset.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab240
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 30 Mar 2022
    Authors: ZM Stawicka, R Massoudi, L Oikonomidis, L McIver, K Mulvihill, SKL Quah, GJ Cockcroft, HF Clarke, NK Horst, CM Wood, AC Roberts

    Prefrontal cortex and depression.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-021-01101-7
    Journal: Neuropsychopharmacology
    E-pub date: 1 Jan 2022
    Authors: DA Pizzagalli, AC Roberts

    Controlling one’s world: Identification of sub-regions of primate PFC underlying goal-directed behavior.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.003
    Journal: Neuron
    E-pub date: 4 Aug 2021
    Authors: LY Duan, NK Horst, SAW Cranmore, N Horiguchi, RN Cardinal, AC Roberts, TW Robbins

    Glutamate Within the Marmoset Anterior Hippocampus Interacts with Area 25 to Regulate the Behavioral and Cardiovascular Correlates of High-Trait Anxiety.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2451-18.2018
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 17 Apr 2019
    Authors: JL Zeredo, SKL Quah, CU Wallis, L Alexander, GJ Cockcroft, AM Santangelo, J Xia, Y Shiba, JW Dalley, RN Cardinal, AC Roberts, HF Clarke

    Opposing roles of primate areas 25 and 32 and their putative rodent homologs in the regulation of negative emotion.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1620115114
    Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
    E-pub date: 16 May 2017
    Authors: CU Wallis, RN Cardinal, L Alexander, AC Roberts, HF Clarke

    Regional inactivations of primate ventral prefrontal cortex reveal two distinct mechanisms underlying negative bias in decision making.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1422440112
    Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
    E-pub date: 31 Mar 2015
    Authors: HF Clarke, NK Horst, AC Roberts

    Cognitive inflexibility after prefrontal serotonin depletion.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1094987
    Journal: Science
    E-pub date: 7 May 2004
    Authors: HF Clarke, JW Dalley, HS Crofts, TW Robbins, AC Roberts

    Publications

    Differential Contribution of Anterior and Posterior Midcingulate Subregions to Distal and Proximal Threat Reactivity in Marmosets.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab121
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 26 Aug 2021
    Authors: SS Rahman, K Mulvihill, CM Wood, SKL Quah, NK Horst, HF Clarke, GJ Cockcroft, AM Santangelo, AC Roberts

    Over-activation of primate subgenual cingulate cortex enhances the cardiovascular, behavioral and neural responses to threat.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19167-0
    Journal: Nat Commun
    E-pub date: 26 Oct 2020
    Authors: L Alexander, CM Wood, PLR Gaskin, SJ Sawiak, TD Fryer, YT Hong, L McIver, HF Clarke, AC Roberts

    Why we need nonhuman primates to study the role of ventromedial prefrontal cortex in the regulation of threat- and reward-elicited responses.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1902288116
    Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
    E-pub date: 26 Dec 2019
    Authors: AC Roberts, HF Clarke

    Hippocampal Interaction With Area 25, but not Area 32, Regulates Marmoset Approach-Avoidance Behavior.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhz015
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 17 Dec 2019
    Authors: CU Wallis, GJ Cockcroft, RN Cardinal, AC Roberts, HF Clarke

    Insula serotonin 2A receptor binding and gene expression contribute to serotonin transporter polymorphism anxious phenotype in primates.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1902087116
    Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
    E-pub date: 16 Jul 2019
    Authors: AM Santangelo, SJ Sawiak, T Fryer, Y Hong, Y Shiba, HF Clarke, PJ Riss, V Ferrari, R Tait, J Suckling, FI Aigbirhio, AC Roberts

    A Focus on the Functions of Area 25.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci9060129
    Journal: Brain Sci
    E-pub date: 3 Jun 2019
    Authors: L Alexander, HF Clarke, AC Roberts

    Fractionating Blunted Reward Processing Characteristic of Anhedonia by Over-Activating Primate Subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.11.021
    Journal: Neuron
    E-pub date: 16 Jan 2019
    Authors: L Alexander, PLR Gaskin, SJ Sawiak, TD Fryer, YT Hong, GJ Cockcroft, HF Clarke, AC Roberts

    Converging Prefronto-Insula-Amygdala Pathways in Negative Emotion Regulation in Marmoset Monkeys.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.06.016
    Journal: Biol Psychiatry
    E-pub date: 15 Dec 2017
    Authors: Y Shiba, L Oikonomidis, S Sawiak, TD Fryer, YT Hong, G Cockcroft, AM Santangelo, AC Roberts

    Novel Primate Model of Serotonin Transporter Genetic Polymorphisms Associated with Gene Expression, Anxiety and Sensitivity to Antidepressants.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2016.41
    Journal: Neuropsychopharmacology
    E-pub date: 31 Aug 2016
    Authors: AM Santangelo, M Ito, Y Shiba, HF Clarke, EH Schut, G Cockcroft, AC Ferguson-Smith, AC Roberts

    Novel Primate Model of Serotonin Transporter Genetic Polymorphisms Associated with Gene Expression, Anxiety and Sensitivity to Antidepressants

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2016.41;
    Journal: Neuropsychopharmacology
    E-pub date: 21 Mar 2016
    Authors: AM Santangelo, M Ito, Y Shiba, HF Clarke, EHS Schut, G Cockcroft, AC Ferguson-Smith, AC Roberts

    Role of Central Serotonin in Anticipation of Rewarding and Punishing Outcomes: Effects of Selective Amygdala or Orbitofrontal 5-HT Depletion.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhu102
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 1 Sep 2015
    Authors: R Rygula, HF Clarke, RN Cardinal, GJ Cockcroft, J Xia, JW Dalley, TW Robbins, AC Roberts

    Serotonergic, brain volume and attentional correlates of trait anxiety in primates.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2014.324
    Journal: Neuropsychopharmacology
    E-pub date: 1 May 2015
    Authors: Y Mikheenko, Y Shiba, S Sawiak, K Braesicke, G Cockcroft, H Clarke, AC Roberts

    Orbitofrontal dopamine depletion upregulates caudate dopamine and alters behavior via changes in reinforcement sensitivity.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0718-14.2014
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 28 May 2014
    Authors: HF Clarke, RN Cardinal, R Rygula, YT Hong, TD Fryer, SJ Sawiak, V Ferrari, G Cockcroft, FI Aigbirhio, TW Robbins, AC Roberts

    Lesions of ventrolateral prefrontal or anterior orbitofrontal cortex in primates heighten negative emotion.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.03.007
    Journal: Biological Psychiatry
    E-pub date: 15 Aug 2012
    Authors: C Agustín-Pavón, K Braesicke, Y Shiba, AM Santangelo, Y Mikheenko, G Cockroft, F Asma, H Clarke, M-S Man, AC Roberts

    Reversal learning in fronto-striatal circuits: A functional, autonomic, and neurochemical analysis

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199600434.003.0010
    Journal:
    E-pub date: 1 May 2011
    Authors: HF Clarke, AC Roberts

    Dopamine, but not serotonin, regulates reversal learning in the marmoset caudate nucleus.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5066-10.2011
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 16 Mar 2011
    Authors: HF Clarke, GJ Hill, TW Robbins, AC Roberts

    Differential contributions of the primate ventrolateral prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex to serial reversal learning.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2631-10.2010
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 27 Oct 2010
    Authors: R Rygula, SC Walker, HF Clarke, TW Robbins, AC Roberts

    The role of the orbitofrontal cortex and medial striatum in the regulation of prepotent responses to food rewards.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhn137
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 1 Apr 2009
    Authors: MS Man, HF Clarke, AC Roberts

    Lesions of the medial striatum in monkeys produce perseverative impairments during reversal learning similar to those produced by lesions of the orbitofrontal cortex.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1521-08.2008
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 22 Oct 2008
    Authors: HF Clarke, TW Robbins, AC Roberts

    Cognitive inflexibility after prefrontal serotonin depletion is behaviorally and neurochemically specific.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhj120
    Journal: Cereb Cortex
    E-pub date: 1 Jan 2007
    Authors: HF Clarke, SC Walker, JW Dalley, TW Robbins, AC Roberts

    Neurochemical modulation of orbitofrontal cortex function

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198565741.003.0016
    Journal:
    E-pub date: 12 Oct 2006
    Authors: TW Robbins, L Clark, H Clarke, AC Roberts

    Prefrontal serotonin depletion affects reversal learning but not attentional set shifting.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3690-04.2005
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 12 Jan 2005
    Authors: HF Clarke, SC Walker, HS Crofts, JW Dalley, TW Robbins, AC Roberts