Imaging the functional organization of the cerebral cortex

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The organization of the cerebral cortex is not fixed, but rather, is continuously modified by experience throughout an animal's lifetime. Experiences that modify cortical organization include, but are not limited to alterations of sensory inputs, learning, drugs/hormones and injury. My research activities are directed toward identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms that are responsible for mediating experience-dependent plasticity in the developing and adult cerebral cortex. In particular I am interested in the contribution of zinc, and neurons that release zinc, to the plasticity and functional compartmentation of somatosensory cortex. Much of our work has been conducted in post-mortem tissue with inferences made with respect to how zinc contributes to changes in brain organization. The primary aim of the current application is to acquire and utilize new imaging technologies that will allow me to visualize how the living brain actively processes tactile information after altering sensory stimulation or manipulating levels of zinc pharmacologically or genetically. These experiments will inform us regarding the neurobiological mechanisms that mediate rapid forms of sensory learning.