Anatomy of Experience-Dependent Plasticity in the Cerebral Cortex

我的实验室致力于研究哺乳动物大脑皮层可塑性背后的网络、细胞和分子机制。我们利用模型系统，主要是老鼠，来研究日常经历导致的大脑变化过程。我们研究的行为，分子和细胞的变化发生在神经元和神经胶质在大脑皮层，特别是在处理体感和视觉信息的区域，以及海马体，这是本质上参与记忆处理。为了可视化大脑中的这些变化，我们利用解剖学、分子生物学和生理学技术。为了评估许多解剖和分子变化，我们需要准备暴露于不同经历的小鼠大脑的组织学切片。这需要我们将大脑切成非常薄的薄片，然后进行组织学处理。我们需要并依赖于一种特殊的设备——低温恒温器，它允许我们切割20微米或更小厚度的大脑切片，以便能够可视化大脑的结构、化学和分子变化。在过去的5年里，我一直在使用的低温恒温器需要多次维修，频率越来越高。仅在过去的一年里，它坏掉的次数就比它运行的次数还多。最近被厂家技术人员诊断为无法修复。我正在申请资金来购买一种新的替代工具。

My laboratory is fully engaged in research that elucidates the network, cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie plasticity in the mammalian cerebral cortex. We utilize model systems, mostly mice, to study the processes of change in the brain that result from day-to-day experiences. We study the behaviour, and the molecular and cellular changes that occur in neurons and glia in the cerebral cortex, especially in regions that process somatosensory and visual information, as well as the hippocampus, which is essentially involved in memory processing. In order to visualize these changes in the brain, we utilize anatomical, molecular biological and physiological techniques. In order to evaluate many of the anatomical and molecular changes, we need to prepare histological sections of the brains of mice that have been exposed to different experiences. This requires us to slice the brain into very thin sections that can then be processed histologically. We require, and rely upon, a specialized piece of equipment - a cryotstat - that allows us to cut brain sections at a thickness of 20 microns, or less, in order to be able to visualize structural, chemical and molecular changes. The cryostat that I have been using for the past 18 years has required multiple repairs, with increasing frequency, over the past 5 years. In the past year, alone, it was broken more often than it was operating. It recently was diagnosed by the manufacturers technical staff as being unrepairable. I am asking for funds to purchase a new, replacement instrument.