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Neuroscience People at Cornell

Barbara J. Strupp     (WEB PAGE) bjs13 @ cornell.edu 109 Savage Hall      607-255-2694   [edit] Faculty associated with: Stephane A. Beaudin,   Anna E. Beaudin,   Tara L. Benedetto Keywords: Aging (6), Behavioral genetics (7), Cognitive Neuroscience (17), Genetics (9), Hippocampus (11), Learning and Memory (13), Mouse (11), Social behavior (12), Stress (8) In my lab, we are using rodent models to study human developmental cognitive disorders. This research is designed to identify the specific cognitive and affective processes that are affected and link these with underlying neural changes. The ultimate goals are to improve therapeutic intervention and elucidate basic brain-cognition relationships. Two projects, concerning prenatal cocaine exposure and early lead exposure, utilize rat models, whereas three other projects involve genetically manipulated mouse models of human disorders. These three projects deal with, respectively, mouse models of Down syndrome (the Ts65Dn mouse, which has a partial trisomy of chromosome 16),Fragile X syndrome (the fmr1 "knockout" mouse), and mice with a mutation in an enzyme involved in folate metabolism, to further investigate the role of folate alterations in neurogenesis and aging-related cognitive decline. We have recently discovered that perinatal supplementation with excess choline results in lasting cognitive benefits in the Down syndrome (DS) mouse model. This finding suggests that perinatal choline supplementation might significantly reduce the cognitive dysfunction seen in DS as well as reduce the risk of Alzheimer's Disease and age-related cognitive decline in the population at large. We are currently investigating the neural bases of this striking benefit. Also visit my Research/Photo Gallery entry

Robert A. Wyttenbach     (WEB PAGE) rw12 @ cornell.edu W209 S.G. Mudd Hall      607-254-4317   [edit] Research Associate Keywords: Auditory Neuroscience (5), Neuroethology (24) I am a senior research associate with Prof. Ron Hoy. My primary responsibility is development of multimedia teaching material for neuroscience and related fields. Our first project was a CD-ROM lab manual of neurophysiology (Crawdad, published by Sinauer Associates). I am wrapping up a set of lab exercises for experimental psychology, to be published this year. My current projects are a set of mathematical simulations of game theory models of animal behavior and a piece of software for real-time creation and analysis of sound. Funding for these projects comes from the NSF directorate for undergratuate education and from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor grant to Prof. Hoy.

Linda M. Nowak     (WEB PAGE) lmn1 @ cornell.edu C3 117 Veterinary Medical Center      607-253-3655   [edit] Faculty Keywords: Cell and Molecular Neuroscience (23), Ligand-activated ion channels (2), Mathematical Modeling (14), Neurotransmitter receptors and transporters (9), Patch clamp (2) Members of my laboratory are studying excitatory amino acid (EAA) or "glutamate" activated receptor-channels in the vertebrate central nervous system. The principal approach to these investigations involves recordings of EAA activated receptor-channels in mammalian brain neurons in primary culture and recombinant receptor-channels expressed in mammalian cell lines and in Xenopus oocytes. Single channel recordings are employed to determine basic biophysical parameters of receptor channel function. Hidden Markov models are develpoed to model channel opening and closing rates. Chimeric cross-family subunit proteins are designed to study channel ion selectivity, gating, and receptor trafficking. Whole cell voltage-clamp recordings are also combined with single cell molecular biology methods in an effort to ascertain the likely subunit compositions of pharmacologically and biophysically distinct receptor-channel subtypes observed in cerebellar granule neurons and cerebral cortical neurons.

Christiane Linster     (WEB PAGE) cl243 @ cornell.edu W249 Mudd Hall      607-254-4331   [edit] Faculty associated with: Thomas A. Cleland,   Ann Marie McNamara Keywords: Computational Neuroscience (13), Learning and Memory (13), Neuromodulation (12), Olfaction (11), Systems Neuroscience (25) I am interested the neurobiology of learning and memory and I use the sense of smell in rats, mice and honeybees as a model system. My lab uses computational, electrophysiological, pharmacological and behavioral tools to ask questions about odor processing, plasticity, neuromodulation and learning and memory.

Shimon Edelman     (WEB PAGE) se37 @ cornell.edu 232 Uris Hall      607-255-6365   [edit] Faculty Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (3), Computational Neuroscience (13), Language (5), Mathematical Modeling (14), Systems Neuroscience (25), Vision (11) See my home page.

Bernard A Tarr bat24 @ cornell.edu B105 Uris Hall   [edit] Graduate Student associated with: Timothy J. DeVoogd Keywords: Behavioral Neuroscience (9), Birds (4), Cell and Molecular Neuroscience (23), Finch (4), Hippocampus (11), Immediate early genes (5), Learning and Memory (13), Neuroethology (24), Neurogenesis (7), Neuromodulation (12), Neurophysiology (5), Neurotransmitter receptors and transporters (9), Neurotransmitter release (3), Stress (8) Using male Long-Evans rats as a model, I previously studied the relationship between voluntary running and glutamate- and K+-stimulated dopamine release in the striatum (nucleus accumbens and caudate-putamen). Results: The average daily running distance was negatively correlated with K+-stimulated dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens core and caudate-putamen, but not the nucleus accumbens shell. Conclusions: This suggests decreased depolarization-induced release of striatal dopamine may be a predictor of hyperactivity, and some individuals may display some of the neurochemical and behavioral characteristics of a rat model for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Currently, I study spatial learning and memory in Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapilla) - a food hoarding bird. We have been studying the effect of captivity on the hippocampus, in adult birds specifically. We have found that 6 weeks captivity causes a reduction in hippocampal volume of approximately 24%, but does not cause a reduction in size of the telencephalon, number, or density of new neurons surviving(neurogenesis). We are currently studying the proximate nature and cause/s of hippocampal structural and functional change in adult wild food-storing birds as a result of captivity, to better understand the effects of stress, lack of hippocampal stimulation (food-storing activity), exercise, and social-interaction on the hippocampus.

Jonathan King jtk7 @ cornell.edu W149 Mudd Hall      607-254-4379   [edit] Graduate Student associated with: David P. McCobb Keywords: Cell and Molecular Neuroscience (23), Neuroendocrinology (7), Neuromodulation (12), Stress (8) My research interests lie within the realm of stress physiology. What stress does, how it does it, and why it does what it does. To examine the mechanisms of stress I work on calcium and voltage activated potassium channels that are located in the adrenal medulla. These ion channels shape the firing properties of chromaffin cells, which are responsible for adrenaline release during a stress response. I am particularly interested in the interactions that stress steroids have with these ion channels and how these interactions contribute to the stress response. I do this work in David McCobb's Lab.

Charles J Brainerd     (WEB PAGE) cb299 @ cornell.edu B-43, MVR Hall      607-254-1163   [edit] Faculty Keywords: Aging (6), Cognitive Neuroscience (17), Development (21), Emotion (4), Hippocampus (11), Imaging (8), Individual Differences (Human) (6), Learning and Memory (13), Mathematical Modeling (14) My research covers areas such as human memory and decision-making, statistics and mathematical modeling, psychological assessment, learning, intelligence, cognitive development, learning disability, child abuse, and memory impairments in aging and Alzheimer's Disease. My current research program centers on the relation between memory and higher reasoning abilities in children and adults, and it also focuses on false-memory phenomena. Together with another Cornell Professor, Valerie Reyna, I have developed fuzzy-trace theory, a model of the relation between memory and higher reasoning that has been widely applied within cognitive neuroscinece, medicine, and law.

Matthew Belmonte     (WEB PAGE) mkb4 @ cornell.edu G62A MVR      607-255-6385   [edit] Faculty Keywords: Cognitive Neuroscience (17), Development (21), Imaging (8) Matthew Belmonte's research has applied EEG and fMRI to explore brain physiology in people with autism spectrum conditions and in their family members. He also has interests in the development of computational methods for statistical analysis of fMRI and EEG time series, and in the relation of cognitive science to literary representation.

Tara L. Benedetto tlb35 @ cornell.edu 104 Savage Hall      607-255-8378   [edit] Graduate Student associated with: Stephane A. Beaudin,   Barbara J. Strupp Keywords: Developmental Neurotoxicology (2), Neurotransmitter receptors and transporters (9) I am currently examining the long-lasting cognitive effects of prenatal cocaine exposure. I am specifically interested in how drug-induced neurochemical changes result in altered attentional set-shifting abilities. I hope to use a combination of neurological analyses and behavioral testing to develop possible therapeautic agents.

Please report corrections, questions, comments, and problems to: Lori Miller (lmm8 AT cornell.edu)