Imaging the functional organization of the cerebral cortex

大脑皮层的组织不是固定的，而是在动物的一生中不断被经验所改变。改变皮层组织的经历包括但不限于感觉输入、学习、药物/激素和损伤的改变。我的研究活动方向是确定负责调节发育和成人大脑皮层中经验依赖的可塑性的细胞和分子机制。我特别感兴趣的是锌的贡献，以及释放锌的神经元，对体感觉皮层的可塑性和功能分区的影响。我们的大部分工作都是在死后组织中进行的，对锌如何促进大脑组织的变化做出了推断。当前应用的主要目的是获取和利用新的成像技术，这将使我能够可视化在改变感觉刺激或在药理学或遗传学上操纵锌水平后，活体大脑如何积极地处理触觉信息。这些实验将告诉我们关于调节快速形式的感觉学习的神经生物学机制。

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.