Education:
California Institute of Technology, PhD - Computation and Neural Systems, in progress.
Harvard University, Bachelor's Degree - Neurobiology, June 2002.
Experience:
MGH NMR Center, Radiology Department, Charlestown MA, June 2000-Present.
Supervisors: Professors Roger Tootell and Wim Vanduffel.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging of vision in monkeys. Improved experimental design,
created stimuli, assisted in surgeries and training of monkeys, acquired and analyzed data,
made final figures and helped in manuscript preparation for publication.
Roger
Wim
Bruce
Initiative on Technology and Self, STS Department, MIT, Cambridge MA, May-September 2001.
Supervisor: Professor Sherry Turkle.
Ethnographic and psychoanalytic studies of child and adult interactions with humanoid robots and
the roboticists that built them. Exploring philosophical ideas about identity, intelligence,
aliveness, intentionality and humanness. Essay pending publication in initiative volume.
Sherry
G.R.A.S.P. Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA, May-August 2000.
Supervisor: Professor Jim Ostrowski.
REU Research Award to conduct research into anguilloform locomotion (sinusoidal movements of
eels and snakes). Successfully implemented a new design for an amphibious robot, conquering
difficulties of waterproofing, discrete-link design, force generation due to body shape and
communication.
Jim
University of Georgia Environmental Education Program, Wahsega 4-H, Dahlonega GA, February-May 2000.
Supervisor: Facility Director Mark E. Hostetler, PhD.
Developed lesson plans and taught a diversity of classes from herpetology to stream ecology with a focus
on interactive experiences among the students, hands-on observation, and study outdoors or with live
animal specimens, for age groups ranging from 4th through 7th grades and from a distribution of
socioeconomic backgrounds.
Caribbean Primate Research Center, Cayo Santiago Facility, Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico, June-August 1999.
Supervisor: Professor Marc Hauser, Facility Director F. Bercovitch.
Harvard College Research Fellowship to conduct field behavioral and cognitive research on free-ranging
rhesus monkeys for 3 months. Worked closely with a small team of researchers from Harvard University,
University of Puerto Rico and NIH. Developed experimental designs and conditions to carry out on
free-ranging primates, recorded high-quality vocal and facial expression for later experimental use
and analysis.
Primate Cognition Laboratory, Psychology Department, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, spring term 1999.
Supervisor: Professor Marc Hauser.
Conducted cognitive and perceptual studies on laboratory Cotton-top tamarins under the supervision of
Professor Marc Hauser. Worked closely with a graduate student to explore the communicative and auditory
abilities of the tamarins. Implemented successful new experimental design to ask questions about the
kinds of information conveyed in a five syllable long call.
Publications:
Hadj-Bouziane F, Bell AH, Knusten TA, Ungerleider LG, Tootell RB.
Perception of emotional expressions is independent of face selectivity in monkey inferior temporal cortex.
Proc Natl Acad Sci 2008 Apr 8;105(14):5591-6.
Sasaki, Y., Rajimehr, R., Kim, B. W., Knutsen, T., Ekstrom, L., Dale, A., Vanduffel, W., & Tootell, R.
The radial orientation effect in human and non-human primates.
Journal of Vision 2006; 6(6):916.
Sasaki Y, Vanduffel W, Tsao DY, Knutsen T, Tyler CW, Tootell RBH.
Symmetry activates visual cortex in human and nonhuman primates.
PNAS 2005 Feb 22; 102(8):3159-3163.
PNAS supplement
Tsao, DY, Friewald, WA, Knutsen, TA, Mandeville, JB, Tootell, RB
Faces and objects in macaque cerebral cortex.
Nat Neurosci 2003 Sep; 6(9):989-95.
PDF
Tsao, DY, Vanduffel, W, Sasaki, Y, Fize, D, Knutsen, TA, Mandeville, JB, Wald, LL, Dale, AM, Rosen, BR,
VanEssen, DC, Livingstone, MA, Orban, GA, Tootell, RB
Stereopsis activates V3A and caudal intraparietal areas in macaque and humans.
Neuron 2003 July 31; 39(3):555-68.
PDF
Tootell RBH, Sasaki Y, Kim B, Knutsen T, Dale AM, Vanduffel W.
A cortical magnification factor transforms orientation sensitivity in human/primate visual cortex.
Soc Neurosci Abstr 2004.DOC
Knutsen, T. Robobum: Where Politics, Society and Science Collide. In Technology and Self Essays,
ed. Sherry Turkle, in press.
Knutsen, T. Designing an Underwater Eel-like Robot and Developing Anguilliform Locomotion Control.
Published by J. Van der Spiegel, Dec. 31 2000.
URL
Acknowledgements:
Hauser MD, Akre K.
Asymmetries in the timing of facial and vocal expressions by rhesus monkeys: implications for
hemisphere specialization.
Animal Behavior, 2001, 61, 391-400.
PDF
Varchavskaia P, Fitzpatrick P, Breazeal C.
Characterizing and Processing Robot-Directed Speech.
Proceedings of IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, 2001.
PDF
Academic Honors:
Sandia National Laboratory Excellence in Engineering Fellowship, 2006-present.
National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates, 2000.
SUNFEST, University of Pennsylvania.
Harvard University Undergraduate Research Fellowship, 1999.
Cayo Santiago Primate Facility, Puerto Rico.
Extracurriculars:
Events/Talks Chair of Student Committee On Premedical Education (SCOPE) 1999.
Harvard Undergraduate Society for Neuroscience, on editorial board for publication, 1999.
Varsity Fencing Team Leader, 2000-2002.
Skills:
Skilled in C, Matlab, some Java, HTML. Knowledge of MacOS, Linux/Unix, DOS, Windows, circuit building,
design and construction of experimental apparatus, 3D printing/prototyping, Autocad.