Upcoming Seminars 2011-2012
September 20: Lizabeth Romanski, Ph.D., University of Rochester
Associate Professor, Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy
"Convergence of Faces and Voices in the Prefrontal Cortex"
Faculty host:
Student host: Elliot Smith
Research Summary: The integration of auditory and visual stimuli is crucial for recognizing objects by sight and sound, communicating effectively, and navigating through our complex world. While auditory and visual information are combined in many sites of the human brain, the frontal lobes have been identified as a region associated with memory and language, which depend on multisensory integration of complex auditory and visual stimuli. In our laboratory we are interested in how the ventral prefrontal cortex represents high level auditory information and the neuronal mechanisms which underlie integration of complex auditory and visual information, primarily face and vocal information during communication.
October 18: Vivian Budnik, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts
Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Neurobiology
"Going with the Wnt: Mechanisms of Synaptic Formation"
Faculty host: Michael Bastiani, Biology
Student host: Patrick Gordon
Research Summary: The major goal of the research in our lab is to understand the mechanisms by which synapses are formed and modified. In the lab we are using a multidisciplinary approach that includes genetics, confocal and electron microscopy, electrophysiology and molecular biology to identify the proteins required to scaffold the synapse and to regulate its molding during plasticity. Much of our studies are carried out using a Drosophila glutamatergic synapse model that has a high degree of evolutionary conservation with excitatory synapses in the mammalian brain. Using these approaches we have identified several proteins with fundamental roles in synapse formation and synapse dynamics, including Dlg, a member of the PSD-95 family, Wingless, a well-recognized factor for early embryonic pattern formation but with novel roles in synapse development, and APPL, the fly homolog of human APP, a protein with key roles in the development of Alzheimer's disease.
November 15: James Putney, Jr., Ph.D., National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Professor, Signal Transduction, Calcium Regulation Group
"Regulation and Function of Store-Operated Calcium Channels"
Faculty host: David Krizaj, Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Student host: Daniel Ryskamp
Research Summary: Dr. Putney is a well-regarded authority on calcium signaling and the founding father of the blossoming field concerning store-operated channels and the role of calcium signaling in vertebrate cells, a field becoming relevant to neuroscientists interested in neuronal homeostasis, synaptic transmission, integration, and neurodegeneration. Dr. Putney's current research focuses on understanding the physiology of intracellular calcium stores and their involvement in cellular signaling. More specifically, his laboratory is investigating the identity and nature of intracellular calcium pools, intracellular calcium concentration oscillations, store-operated calcium channels (e.g. Orai channels), the calcium sensor Stim1, the signaling mechanisms for non-store-operated TRP channels, and IP3 signaling.
January 17: Thomas Bozza, M.D., Northwestern University
Professor, Department of Neurobiology
"Genetic analysis of odor representations in the mouse olfactory system"
Faculty host: Megan Williams, Neurobiology & Anatomy
Student host: Andrew Haack
Research Summary: Odor detection is mediated by a large family of 1,000 odorant receptor genes in the mouse. Each olfactory sensory neuron in the nose expresses one receptor gene and projects to a receptor-specific glomerulus, thus mapping the receptor repertoire onto the olfactory bulb surface. My laboratory uses gene targeting, electrophysiology, imaging and behavioral approaches to investigate how the organization of the glomerular array relates to odor guided behaviors. I will discuss recent findings showing that phylogenetically distinct classes of odorant receptors are mapped systematically in the olfactory bulb. I will then focus on the function of a newly discovered family of odorant receptors that have been implicated in mediating responses to innately aversive, predator-derived odors.
February 21: Nancy Minshew, M.D., University of Pittsburgh
Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology
Director of the Autism Center of Excellence
"What We Don't Know About Autism"
Faculty host: Janet Lainhart, Psychiatry
Student host: Jason Cooperrider
Research Summary: I am a behavioral child neurologist. My focus for the past 20 years has been the investigation of the cognitive, neurologic, and neural basis of autism. Most recently, we have added investigation of the family genetics of autism. This research has led to evidence of autism as a selective disorder of complex information processing with sparing of simple information processing. Eye movement studies have provided evidence of selective involvement of neocortical systems and of reduced computational capacity. Structural imaging studies have revealed evidence of over development of local brain circuitry and underdevelopment of longer distance connections. MRS studies have provided evidence of undersynthesis and increased degradation of brain membranes and of disjointed temporal development of brain membranes. Future research will continue in these areas with a focus on neural systems organization, neuronal organizational events, and new areas of cognition such as prototype formation, facial recognition, and social cognition. This work is being done in collaboration with Drs. Bernie Devlin, Bill Eddy, Gerald Goldstein, Marcel Just, Marlene Behrmann, Mark Strauss, Bea Luna, John Sweeney, and Diane Williams.
March 20: Bärbel Rohrer, Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina
Professor, Departments of Ophthalmology & Neuroscience
"Sublytic Complement Activation in Age-related Macular Degeneration"
Faculty host: Robert Marc, Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Student host: Scott Lauritzen
Research Summary: My lab is interested in investigating the mechanism of photoreceptor degeneration and neuroprotection. The current projects in the lab were spun off from a study focused on identifying commonalities among photoreceptor dystrophies, in order to identify possibilities for common treatments. Over the last ten years, the number of genes associated with photoreceptor dystrophies has almost doubled from ~100 to almost 200 genes (RetNet at http://www.retnet.org). In addition, various environmental factors have been identified to trigger or augment the disease. This heterogeneity has hampered the development of treatment strategies, and progress to develop treatments has been limited by the need to know the identities of potential rescue factors and their target genes in the photoreceptors. Two key clusters included genes involved in energy metabolism and complement activation/neuroinflammation (e.g., Lohr et al., 2006; PMID: 16626700), which we chose to focus on. Both projects are translational in that they start with a gene or a molecule, are examined in cell-based assays for mechanistic studies, and culminate in models for functional analyses.
April 17: Nelson Spruston, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Scientific Program Director, Janelia Farm
"Neural Signal Integration in Dendrites and Axons in the Hippocampus"
Faculty host: John White
Student host: Christina Rossi
Research Summary: The goal of the research in my laboratory is to understand the types of integration that occur in neuronal dendrites and how the structure of the dendrites and the various types of ion channels contained in the dendritic membrane carry out the task. We study these processes using patch-clamp recordings from the soma and dendrites of neurons maintained in slices of living brain tissue. These recordings can be used to study the properties of both voltage-gated and synaptically activated ion channels. In addition, simultaneous recording from the soma and a dendrite of the same neuron provides information on how voltage changes such as synaptic potentials and action potentials propagate within the neuron. Data obtained from such recordings are also used in computer models incorporating the three dimensional structure of the neuronal dendritic tree. These models allow us to examine which aspects of neuronal structure and ion channel composition are critical in the process of synaptic integration, and to formulate testable predictions for future experiments. Our work also determines how these neuronal properties may change as a function of experience. Such forms of neuronal "plasticity" are widely believed to constitute the cellular basis of learning and memory.
Past seminars
