| Cellular
and Molecular Neuroscience
Conduction
and transmission of signals are among the essential features
of all excitable cells, and ion channels gated by voltage
and by ligand binding are critical components required for
these unique functions. Mutations in these ion channels are
now recognized as the cause of a growing number of neurological
diseases. Irwin Levitan is
currently investigating the function and modulation of potassium
channels and their participation in neuronal excitability
and synaptic transmission.
Jon Lindstrom is studying the biochemical and antigenic
structure of nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors
in nerve and muscle. Amita Sehgal
is exploring the molecular basis of circadian behavior.
Developmental
Neuroscience
How
cells differentiate and come together to form functional connections
are fundamental questions in modern neuroscience. Jonathan
Raper studies mechanisms of axonal guidance in the developing
nervous system. Greg Bashaw uses
molecular and genetic approaches to investigate how guidance
receptors, expressed on the surface of navigating axons, transmit
their signals to generate specific axonal trajectories. Rita
Balice-Gordon works on activity-dependent wiring of neural
connections, focusing on the neuromuscular junction. . Matthew Dalva investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms guiding the process of synapse formation in the central nervous system.
Systems
Neuroscience
In
this brain, with more than ten billion neurons and many more
points of connection, issues of large scale organization and
information processing are critical. Systems neuroscience
addresses these issues at a number of levels. Peter
Sterling studies the neurons of the retina, how they are
connected, and how they work together to accomplish the earliest
stages of visual processing. Michael
Nusbaum and Brian Salzberg
use a variety of techniques to investigate the functioning
of relatively simple circuits that generate specific patterns
of neural activity. George Gerstein
asks how large-scale ensembles of neurons act in concert over
wide-spread areas of cerebral cortex.
Joshua Gold uses electrophysiological techniques in awake,
behaving monkeys to examine the neural mechanisms responsible
for forming decisions about sensory stimuli. Diego
Contreras studies the involvement of oscillatory activity
in information coding in cortical and thalamocortical networks,
and the role of network properties in the abnormal paroxysmal
activity that is characteristic of epilepsy.
Larry Palmer explores how neurons of the visual cortex
come to have their selective response properties. Minghong
Ma is investigating olfactory coding and processing mechanisms
in mammals. Marcos Frank uses electrophysiological recording and optical imaging of intrinsic cortical signals in developing animals to determine the role of sleep in synaptic plasticity and neural development.
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