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Name, Field, Position, Department, and Keyword |
Faculty Keywords: Cognitive Neuroscience (17), Development (21), Neuroethology (24), Neurogenesis (7), Systems Neuroscience (25), Vision (11) The relationship of development and evolution in understanding brain structure. |
Faculty Keywords: Behavioral Neuroscience (9), Cognitive Neuroscience (17), Hippocampus (11), Learning and Memory (13), Neurophysiology (5), Olfaction (11) My research is focused on a neural systems level analysis of learning and memory processes in rodents. We record the activity of many individual neurons in behaving rats while they learn. This allows us to track the changes in neuronal responses that are associated with the acquisition of learned information. We also use pharmacological agents to temporarily inactivate discrete brain regions while recording neuronal responses in anatomically connected brain regions. This allows us to determine how the loss of that brain region impacts the rat’s ability to learn and how the loss of one part of a neural circuit can affect processing in other parts of the circuit. |
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. |
Faculty associated with: Javier delBarco-Trillo, Tali Iwanir Keywords: Behavioral Neuroscience (9), Hamster (3), Neuroethology (24), Olfaction (11), Social behavior (12) Animal behavior and mechanisms of social behavior; olfactory communication, especially in mammals; social recognition and memory (kin recognition, individual recognition, and recognition of sex, species and social status); sense of smell and the neural and hormonal mechanisms of behavior; central nervous system mechanisms of social recognition and memory; scent marking and especially scent over-marking as a sexually selected trait; field studies of social communication and social organization; cognitive approaches to social behavior in animals |
Faculty associated with: Bernard A Tarr Keywords: Bird Song (2), Cognitive Neuroscience (17), Development (21), Finch (4), Hippocampus (11), Immediate early genes (5), Learning and Memory (13), Neuroethology (24), Vocal Motor Systems (3) I'm interested in neurobiology of learning and memory. My lab studies this using song learning in songbirds, and spatial learning in food-caching birds. Recent findings include the following: 1) Female zebra finches require experience with song during development in order to select normal over poor (isolate) conspecific song. Such birds also have fewer synapses in a an auditory perceptual brain area (Lauay et al., 2004,2005) 2) Species with elaborate song repertoires have larger song production brain areas than those with smaller repertoires (Moore et al., in prep.) 3)Chickadees injected in the hippocampus with an NMDA blocker do not form a long term memory of a food site. A CB-1 blocker causes improved memory for one site--but with reduced ability to modify the memory (Shiflett et al., 2003,2004) 4) Simply housing a chickadee in the lab results in hippocampal shrinkage and reduced survival of new neurons over birds in the wild (Tarr et al., in prep). Also visit my 7 Research/Photo Gallery entries |
Graduate Student associated with: Robert E. Johnston Keywords: Behavioral Neuroscience (9), Emotion (4), Hamster (3), Neuroethology (24), Social behavior (12), Systems Neuroscience (25) Behavioral Neuroscience. Advisor Robert Johnston |
Faculty associated with: Mark V. Albert, Sherry X. Xian Keywords: Computational Neuroscience (13), Systems Neuroscience (25), Vision (11) What is the goal of sensory coding? What are the statistical regularities in natural scenes, and how do they relate to the response properties of cortical cells? We investigate these and other questions from a combination of psychophysical and computational approaches |
Graduate Student associated with: David J. Field Keywords: Computational Neuroscience (13), Mathematical Modeling (14), Vision (11) By evolution and experience, animal visual processing has adapted to the statistics of our natural environment to maximize both speed and metabolic efficiency. This has lead to complex visual systems with striking regularities among many animal species in terms of early cortical and pre-cortical coding. It is critical to our understanding that we establish the link between the guiding principles of computational efficiency and this resulting neural code. The primary approach I am taking involves studying the statistics of natural scenes to explain the response properties of neurons in early visual cortex. Currently, I am exploring ways of extending neurally-relevant efficient encoding techniques with linear spatial filters to various classes of nonlinear spatiotemporal filters. The intention is to explain cortical nonlinearities from an ecological efficiency perspective. Also visit my 5 Research/Photo Gallery entries |
Faculty associated with: Bruce P. Halpern Keywords: Aging (6), Olfaction (11) My research is primarily in sensory systems, studying chemosensory functions and behaviors. MY LABORATORY'S FOCUS IS SMELL IN HUMANS. This research is designed to increase knowledge and understanding of retronasal smelling (smelling odorants that are located in the oral cavity) in relation to orthonasal smelling (smelling odorants that are located near the anterior nares [nostrils], typically outside the organism). The term "smelling" is used rather than "olfaction" because odorants can potentially access both the trigeminally-innervated nasal and oral mucosa and the olfactory mucosa of the nasal cavity during normal retronasal or orthonasal presentation of odorants. Subjects are asked to describe the odorants, match them for intensity, indicate their intensity, or distinguish between odorants and their solvents. These descriptions, intensity reports and discriminations are made either once for each odorant presentation or repeatedly during and after an odorant presentation (time-intensity or time-quality measures). Digital computers are used to provide instructions and acquire responses. I'm also interested in AGING AND CHEMOSENSORY PERCEPTION. Human ability to detect or identify odorants often declines with age, but the rate of decline differs between odorants. These differential declines, coupled with lesser changes in tasting ability, can have profound effects on appreciation of flavor, enjoyment of food, quality of life, and, for odorants per se, responses to warning odorants. |
Graduate Student associated with: Elizabeth Adkins-Regan Keywords: Birds (4), Cell and Molecular Neuroscience (23), Finch (4), Immediate early genes (5), Neuroendocrinology (7), Neuroethology (24), Neurogenesis (7), Social behavior (12), Steroid hormones (2), Stress (8) My interests lie in understanding the neurobiology of affiliative behaviors such as pair bonding and parental care using the socially monogamous and biparental zebra finch as a model system. |
Please report corrections, questions, comments, and problems to: Lori Miller (lmm8 AT cornell.edu)