Research Mentors

Associate Professor Wyeth Bair

Department of Biological Structure

Email: wyeth0@uw.edu

Research: We are a systems neuroscience group that aims to understand neural circuitry and neural coding in the cerebral cortex with a major emphasis on the primate visual system. We approach this problem by recording directly from neurons in the functioning brain in vivo and by creating and refining large scale spiking neural network models that run on parallel computers. Thus, we are an interdisciplinary lab where members may do computational studies, in vivo experiments, or both. The immediate goals of our computational work are (1) to unify neural circuit models of visual processing across modalities that intersect in the primary visual cortex (V1), i.e., to integrate models of motion, color and form processing to develop a more complete and deeper understanding of the computations carried out by cortical circuitry, (2) to extend these models to higher cortical areas to investigate shape representation in area V4 and motion perception in area V5/MT, and (3) to pioneer a novel web-based modeling framework (www.iModel.org) to promote the use of computer models and to advance collaboration between experimental, computational and theoretical neuroscientists. Our immediate experimental goals are the development of a cutting-edge optical recording system (2-photon Ca++ imaging) to facilitate the study of both large-scale and small neighborhood representation and computation in V1 and V4 of the primate. For example, we seek to understand inter-neuronal correlation within V1 at the microcircuit level and, in collaboration with the Pasupathy lab, the basis of shape representation within area V4. Our ultimate goal is to understand human visual perception well enough to reproduce it in artificial systems and to guide the future development of brain-machine interfaces.

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Professor Marc Binder

Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Email: mdbinder@uw.edu

Research: My present research activities focus on: (1) generating a comprehensive description of the  biophysical properties of motoneurons and their alterations in mouse models of human neurological disorders, and (2) elucidating how the functional coupling and cooperative gating of voltage-gated membrane channels affect the excitability of neurons.

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Assistant Professor Bingni Brunton

Department of Biology

Email: bbrunton@uw.edu

Research: With recent advances in technology and infrastructure, we continue to increase our capacity to record signals from brain cells in much greater numbers and at even faster speeds. My research leverages tools from modern computer science and mathematics to understand patterns in these rich, big neural data. I am particularly focused on building concise descriptions of complex data to enable neural-engineering solutions, including the capacity to interpret and manipulate states of the mind in real time.

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Associate Professor Elizabeth Buffalo

Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Email: ebuffalo@uw.edu

Research: Our research is aimed at understanding the neural mechanisms that support learning and memory. Using neurophysiological techniques, we record simultaneously from multiple electrodes in the hippocampus and surrounding cortex in awake, behaving monkeys. We investigate how changes in neuronal activity correlate with the monkey’s ability to learn and remember. We are particularly interested in the activity of neuronal networks that underlie learning and memory processes, along with spatial navigation. We use spectral analysis techniques to investigate the role of oscillatory activity and neuronal synchronization in cognition.

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Professor Tom Daniel

Department of Biology

Email: danielt@uw.edu

Research: Neurons and neuronal networks decide, remember, modulate, and control an animal’s every sensation, thought, movement, and act. The intimate details of this network, including the dynamical properties of individual and populations of neurons, give a nervous system the power to control a wide array of behavioral functions. We want to know more about neuronal dynamics and networks; about synaptic interactions between neurons; about how neuronal signaling and behavior and control and environmental stimuli are inextricably linked.

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Professor Horacio de la Iglesia

Department of Biology

Email: horaciod@uw.edu

Research: Our laboratory is interested in understanding how neural systems encode time and generate rhythmic physiological and behavioral outputs to adapt to the temporal structure of the environment. We use a comparative approach that capitalizes on animal models that range from the laboratory mouse to humans.

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Associate Professor Ajay Dhaka

Department of Biological Structure

Email: dhaka@uw.edu

Research:

Our perception of the external world comes from our senses. The sense of touch or somatic sensation consists of the perception of multiple discrete stimuli including temperature, pain, proprioception and discriminative touch. Specialized neurons within the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and trigeminal ganglia (TG) sense these diverse stimuli via nerve endings that project to the skin, muscles and the organs of the body, and this information is then transmitted to the brain via the spinal cord. Electrophysiological characterization has shown that these neurons receive and relay information from these diverse stimuli at least in part through subclasses of DRG neurons that convey different perceptual modali

ties. Only in the last decade have the genes involved in the direct gating of sensory modalities begun to be identified. Many of these genes belong to the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family of non-selective cation channels, including TRPV1 and TRPA1, detectors of noxious stimuli and TRPM8, a sensor of cool temperature.

While there have been recent advancements, very little is known about how somatosensory neurons become specialized during development and how their neuronal circuitry facilitates their ability to transmit specific environmental cues in the adult. We are interested in understanding the mechanism by which sensory information is coded by the peripheral nervous system, and how specific subclass specificity and neuronal circuit assembly occurs during development. In addition, we are working to identify novel sensory receptors for modalities such as mechanosensation, temperature and nociception. Discovering how the simple circuits of the peripheral nervous system assemble and code information output will not only help us understand how we perceive the world around us but may also provide valuable insight into how these processes occur in the more complex circuits of the brain.

My lab is taking advantage of the recent identification of molecular markers (TRP channels) that define specific sensory modalities to help further our understanding of sensory perception. To this end, we are using novel tools and techniques that we have developed in combination with mouse genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry and live cell imaging to achieve our goals.

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Professor Adrienne Fairhall

Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Email: fairhall@uw.edu

Research: The Fairhall lab uses mathematical and statistical methods to study the relationship between neuronal circuitry and functional algorithms of computation.  Through collaborations with experimental labs we develop analysis and modeling to understand how: single neurons transform their inputs; what rules govern adaptation in different sensory modalities; how the properties of single neurons contribute to their role in network dynamics; how algorithms of learning, memory and motor control are instantiated in the dynamics of neural circuits in birdsong, invertebrate models and primates.

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Assistant Professor Susan Ferguson

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Email: smfergus@uw.edu

Research: The overall goal of my research program is to use a multi-level approach, combining molecular biology, anatomy, genetics and behavioral neuroscience, to understand the role of cortico-basal ganglia circuitry in the development of behaviors that are associated with drug reward and addiction, as well as in the processes that underlie decision-making, motivation and impulsivity. To accomplish these goals, my laboratory employs a novel chemical-genetic approach that uses viral vectors to express artificial, engineered G-protein coupled receptors (known as DREADD receptors) in discrete neuronal cell populations in rodents. Activation of DREADD receptors by the otherwise inert synthetic ligand clozapine-N-oxide will lead to transient alterations in neuronal activity (either increasing or decreasing cell function depending on which G-protein coupled DREADD receptor is expressed) of the targeted cell populations.  This neuronal modulation can be paired with specific phases of the behaviors that we study, including psychostimulant-induced behavioral sensitization, drug self-administration and operant learning tasks, in order to parse out the neural circuitry that contributes to behaviors associated with addiction and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

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Professor Eberhard Fetz

Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Email: fetz@uw.edu

Research: Neural control of movement; neural modeling.

We are investigating the neural mechanisms involved in programming and executing hand movements by recording neural activity in monkeys trained to manually track visual targets. We are particularly interested in studying ”premotoneuronal” cells in motor cortex and spinal cord that produce postspike effects on forelimb muscle activity. By knowing both the response patterns of these cells during movements and their output connections to target muscles we can make important causal inferences about their contribution to movements. Recordings of spinal interneurons in behaving monkeys have revealed that spinal neurons share many properties of cortical neurons, including preparation for instructed movements.

We are currently developing an implantable ‘brain-computer interface’ to record activity of cortical neurons in monkeys and convert this activity to stimuli delivered at sites in motor cortex, spinal cord or muscles. An implanted array of microelectrodes records neural activity; and a computer chip discriminates action potentials and controls the stimulus parameters. We will study the behavioral adaptation of monkeys to the long-term presence of these artificial feedback loops. The recurrent connection also generates lasting plastic changes through time-dependent plasticity.

In parallel with these physiological studies, we are also using neural network simulations to show how neural computation could be performed in large populations of cells. Dynamic recurrent neural network modeling has provided important insights into the neural mechanisms that could mediate movement and short-term memory.

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Associate Professor Suman Jayadev

Department of Neurology

Email: sumie@uw.edu

Research: Our Neurogenetics laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms driving CNS and peripheral innate immune cellular phenotypes relevant to initiation or promotion of neurodegeneration.

Murine CNS and systemic inflammation models

Employing a cell-type specific transgenic murine model expressing a familial Alzheimer Disease Presenilin 2 mutation, we study the regulation of microglial and systemic immune responses to innate immune stimulation and stroke.   Microglia isolated from PSEN2 N141I mutation expressing mice have an exaggerated pro-inflammatory response, similar to those we have previously observed in PSEN2 knockout microglia, supporting a loss of function mechanism in innate immunity for PSEN2 mutations contributing to AD.

Patient derived innate immune studies in AD

In parallel, our laboratory has developed methods to investigate cell-autonomous and non-cell autonomous mechanisms in vitro with human neural and glial cells.  Using familial AD patient induced pluripotent stem cell lines or CRISPR/Cas9 gene edited embryonic stem cell lines we study the impact of genetic neurodegenerative disease associated microglia on inflammatory responses and neuronal health in vitro.   Complementing the microglial studies we are investigating the microRNA and transcriptomic alterations in peripheral innate immune cells isolated from patients carrying a familial AD (PSEN1, PSEN2, APP) gene mutation.

AD Genetic Risk in Patients and Their Families

Dr. Jayadev is PI of the UW Alzheimer Disease Research Center’s Therapeutic Pipeline Project (TPP) Genetics project, a translational study investigating the genetic contribution to Alzheimer Disease using exome and genome sequencing.   The group is also studying clinical utility and patient impact of  exome sequencing for subjects with early onset AD or family histories of AD.  We are stratifying AD genetic risk, developing counseling methods for returning exome testing results to subjects and their families, and establishing collaborations to study functional variants in vitro.

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Professor Jeansok Kim

Department of Psychology

Email: jeansjokk@uw.edu

Research: Stress and fear play important roles in our lives, from influencing daily behaviors to precipitating symptoms of mental health disorders. My laboratory is performing multi-level analyses toward understanding the neurobiology of stress and fear. Specifically, we investigate how stress alters hippocampal plasticity and multiple brain-memory systems, and how fear memories are formed. These investigations consist of employing lesion, intra-cerebral drug infusion, and in vitro and in vivo neurophysiological recording techniques. Recently, we began employing ‘predator-like’ robots and ‘closed economy’ (self-contained living setting comprised of safe nest and dangerous foraging zones) to investigate defensive behaviors of rats in semi-naturalistic, dynamic risky environments. These ecologically-relevant studies address the neuronal basis of the basic approach-avoid conflicts that contribute to human psychopathologies.

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Professor Ludo Max

Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences

Email: ludomax@uw.edu

Research: Research projects conducted in the University of Washington’s Laboratory for Speech Physiology and Motor Control (Max Lab), or through collaborations between this and other laboratories, focus on the neural and sensorimotor processes underlying the control of orofacial and laryngeal movements involved in speech production as well as on human voluntary movements in general. The two major research programs that form the main focus of the laboratory are designed to examine (a) the sensorimotor control and organization of the multiple articulatory and phonatory actions contributing to normal speech production, and (b) the neuromotor and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying stuttering. The work on stuttering also provides additional opportunities to study the neural processes involved in motor control, for example through studies of the effects of dopamine-related pharmacological agents on speech fluency and on both speech and nonspeech motor control. Experimental questions are addressed through the combined use of a variety of available analysis procedures and techniques such as, for example, kinematic and electromyographic analyses of orofacial and limb movements, mechanical perturbations of such movements, electroencephalographic recordings of cortical brain activity, and acoustic analyses of the speech output. Examples of currently ongoing projects include analyses of speech and nonspeech sensorimotor adaptation in normal motor control (e.g., using real-time perturbations of auditory and/or proprioceptive feedback during speech production) and speech and nonspeech movement analyses in stuttering versus nonstuttering adults.

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Professor Sheri Mizumori

Department of Psychology

Email: mizumori@uw.edu

Research: The general goal of this lab is to understand neurobiological mechanisms of plasticity as it relates to learning and memory. We have been studying spatial navigation by rats as a model behavior for understanding how multiple neural systems contribute to complex learning. Adaptive navigation involves the coordination of many processes. Our studies have examined 1) the nature of the sensory input during navigation (e.g. Mizumori & Williams, 1993; Cooper et al., 1998), 2) the integration of current sensory information with past knowledge about an environment (e.g. see Mizumori et al., 1999a,b), and 3) the behavioral implementation of highly processed spatial information (e.g. Mizumori et al., 1999, in press). More recently, we have been considering these processes in terms of the flexibility of underlying neural representational systems during shifts in cognitive strategy or task demands. Other studies have evaluated spatial performance and properties of neural representational systems of aged and brain-damaged animals (e.g. Mizumori et al., 1995, 1996). The majority of our experiments involve recording single unit extracellular activity during behavioral performance.

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Professor John Neumaier

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and Pharmacology

Email: neumaier@uw.edu

Research: My laboratory is studying the regulation of serotonin receptors in rat brain in animal models of psychiatric illnesses. We use techniques that span molecular to behavioral levels of analysis. Our strategy is to explore the reciprocal relationship between receptor expression and behavior using techniques that focus on discrete brain regions. There are currently three main projects in the laboratory:

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Assistant Professor Jay Parrish

Department of Biology

Email: jzp2@uw.edu

Research: We are broadly interested in understanding the form and function of somatosensory neurons in Drosophila, focusing on the following topics:

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Professor David Perkel

Department of Biology and Otolaryngology

Email: perkel@uw.edu

Research: I am interested in the detailed cellular mechanisms by which brains learn things. We are using vocal learning in songbirds as a model system for vocal learning in humans, and also for motor learning in general. Young songbirds learn their song first by memorizing the song of a nearby individual, usually the father. Later, they begin to vocalize and slowly match their own vocalizations to the memory of their “tutor”. The tutor does not need to be present during the practice phase, but the bird needs to have intact hearing. When the young bird achieves a good match of the tutor song, his song becomes highly stereotyped, and its maintenance becomes somewhat less dependent on hearing. Extensive information concerning the brain structures involved in song production and learning, combined with detailed subcellular understanding of synaptic plasticity phenomena such as long- term potentiation (LTP) in the mammalian hippocampus, allow us to make testable hypotheses regarding the cellular interactions that underlie this behavior. We are using in vitro brain slices obtained from zebra finches to study synaptic mechanisms and plasticity in this system. The goal of this approach is to link cellular and synaptic events with behavior, and we plan to use knowledge gained from in vitro work to guide experiments to investigate the role of synaptic plasticity in song learning in vivo.

A second project in the lab concerns a circuit essential for vocal learning but not adult song production, the so-called anterior forebrain circuit. We are testing the hypothesis that this pathway corresponds to the mammalian cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical loop. We have provided strong evidence for functional similarities in the neurotransmitters used in some portions of this pathway and are continuing to explore the implications of this hypothesis at cellular, systems and behavioral levels. Tying this learning circuit to a well-studied pathway in mammals will allow work in avian and mammalian systems to be mutually beneficial.

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Research Associate Professor Steve Perlmutter

Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Email: perl@uw.edu

Research: Motor deficits severely impact the quality of life of people with damage to the brain and spinal cord, yet current treatments produce limited improvements in movement abilities.  Although the body’s natural recovery processes after injury do not cause spared neural pathways to achieve their fullest potential for restoring function, substantial behavioral gains can be achieved with small but opportune changes in cortical and spinal organization.  We are investigating strategies for inducing plasticity in normal and lesioned motor systems using activity-dependent, targeted, electrical and optical stimulation and delivery of neuromodulators and neurotrophins.  Our goal is to develop neuroprosthetic therapies that exploit the nervous system’s capacity for plastic rewiring to improve motor function after stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury.

In addition, we are interested in interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to facilitate neural regeneration in corticospinal pathways after spinal cord injury.  We are currently using neural cell cultures to understand activity-dependent mechanisms of neurite growth and synaptogenesis.

Our current work on neural plasticity builds on our experience studying the neural mechanisms of voluntary hand and arm movements.  Primates generate an incredibly varied repertoire of motor behaviors.  We have elucidated principles of cortical and spinal information processing that accomplish flexible, coordinated motor control in non-human primates.

Our lab uses neurophysiological, behavioral, anatomical, computational, and genetic techniques in studies in rodents and non-human primates.  We have active collaborations with cell and gene biologists, neurosurgeons, and engineers designing devices for brain-computer interfaces.

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Assistant Professor Chantel Prat

Department of Psychology

Email: csprat@uw.edu

Research: Human thought is characterized by its flexible, dynamic nature. My research at the Cognition and Cortical Dynamics Laboratory (CCDL) attempts to understand how the brain learns and adapts to deal with the ever present fluctuations in the environment.  I am particularly interested in individual differences in language and cognitive capabilities, and how they are reflected by differences in brain functioning. In addition, my current research investigates the overlap between language and general information processing abilities by exploring improvements in general executive functions in individuals who develop bilingually, and deficits in general executive functions in language impaired populations such as autism spectrum disorder. The CCDL utilizes multiple methods and approaches including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and individual differences research to collect converging evidence about the biological nature of human thought.

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Professor Tom Reh

Department of Biological Structure

Email: tomreh@uw.edu

Research: Our lab is focused on the development and repair of the retina, the light sensitive tissue of the eye. We apply the information we obtain from our developmental studies to develop methods for retinal repair using human embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent cells, or through the stimulation of endogenous repair mechanisms. We have been particularly interested in the role of the Notch signaling pathway in retinal development and repair. We have developed methods for directing human ES cells to a retinal progenitor fate, and are exploring the molecular mechanisms that further restrict their identity to rod and cone photoreceptors. We have found that transplantation of photoreceptors derived from human ES cells can restore light response to mice with congenital blindness. Although our studies in amphibians and birds have shown that endogenous repair mechanisms can regenerate retinal cells in non-mammalian vertebrates, recent work from the lab also demonstrates a limited potential for the endogenous repair of the retina after damage, from a population of support cells known as Muller glia. We are working to determine the molecular mechanisms that limit their capacity for regeneration in mammals by determining their differences from non-mammalian vertebrates.

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Assistant Professor Jeff Riffell

Department of Biology

Email: jriffell@uw.edu

Research: Sensory perception of chemical signals strongly influences reproduction, habitat selection, as well as cellular navigation and motility. Indeed, a variety of physiological processes and behaviors are critically dependent on chemosensory signaling mechanisms. Despite the complexity of these processes, the functional principle is the same: detection of chemical stimuli is transduced\ via biochemical signaling cascades, and further processed in the brain. The main goal of my lab’s research, therefore, is to understand these signaling mechanisms on a cellular level, and at the level of neuronal processing in the brain.

Olfactory processing of complex odor stimuli

An ‘odor’ is composed by a complex mixture of different molecules at various concentrations. In the brain, this information is encoded by spatial (and temporal) activity patterns of distinct neuron populations within the antennal (olfactory) lobe. Our research indicates that the temporal activity of the insect antennal lobe (AL) neurons, similar to that which occurs in the visual system, acts to ‘bind’ the complex mixture representation into a single odor percept. Using multi-electrode extracellular recordings of AL output neurons and behavioral assays, we aim to analyze the neural basis of behavior and neuronal network activity in the AL.

Chemotactic signaling in single cells

At a much smaller scale, we examine chemical communication processes at the level of the single cell where the basic molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying chemotaxis are far less understood. We recently found that members of the odorant receptor (OR) family are key mediators of sperm chemotaxis, and in parallel studies with invertebrates, that egg-derived chemical attractants increase sperm-egg encounters and fertilization success. We are currently examining the contribution ORs in mediating chemotactic behaviors and the molecular basis of this process.

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Professor Edwin Rubel

Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Email: rubel@uw.edu

Research: Our research uses a wide variety of methods and numerous preparations to better understand development, plasticity, pathology and potential repair of the inner ear and auditory pathways of the brain. We investigate both the fundamental neurobiology of hearing and translational opportunities of the present and future that are directed toward preventing and treating hearing loss and balance disorders.

One research program endeavors to understand cellular processes underlying development of information processing in the auditory system. Anatomical, physiological, and acoustical methods are used to examine development of cellular mechanisms underlying acoustic signal processing by the inner ear. Parallel studies use in vivo and in vitro preparations to examine the cellular biology underlying structural and functional development of the brain stem auditory pathways.

A second research program addresses the problem of how experience influences brain development. Using manipulations of the amount and pattern of neuronal activity impinging on neurons in the brain stem auditory system of birds and mammals, we study the cellular nature of signals that influence the growth, remodeling, and maintenance of neuronal and glial elements.

A third research program studies the cellular and molecular events responsible for inner ear hair cell death due to ototoxic drugs and aging. In vivo and in vitro preparations of inner ear sensory epithelium are used to study death and cell survival pathways. The zebrafish lateral line system allows high resolution imaging of the intracellular events required for hair cell death or survival, and a unique zebrafish genetic and drug screening screening assay is used to discover genes and new drugs that modulate these pathways and alter the susceptibility of hair cells to ototoxic drugs. Resulting drugs and genes are then tested in laboratory mammals. One drug developed through this program is in the late stages of development for clinical trials.

The final research program stems from the discovery that birds can regenerate inner ear receptor cells (hair cells) following noise- or drug-induced hearing loss. Ongoing studies include a worldwide consortium of leading laboratories aimed at determining the cellular and molecular events responsible for initiating hair cell regeneration and using this information to develop new therapies.

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Associate Professor Eric Shea-Brown

Department of Applied Mathematics

Email: etsb@uw.edu

Research: Eric’s group works on the dynamics of neural networks and neural populations. These dynamics are beautiful, and are richly varied from setting to setting – at times governed by mechanisms we can distill and explain and at times eluding our best analytical tools. Beyond understanding the nonlinear dynamics of neural circuits, we want to understand how they encode and make decisions about the sensory world.

Ongoing projects are on: (1) the time course of decision making in neural networks, seeking both behavioral signatures and neural correlates of decision processing that we can test for in data, (2) collective coding in neural populations, (3) graph-theory tools that link architecture and neural dynamics, with the aim of helping to cut connectomics problems down to size.Making progress on these problems requires a range of perspectives and methods. Eric and his group delight in collaboration with fellow theorists of many different backgrounds, and in close ties with with cognitive neuroscientists, biophysicists, and neurophysiologists. These colleagues are developing extraordinary datasets that reveal the brain’s dynamics on a range of scales that would have been unimaginable even a decade ago. As a consequence opportunities for impactful mathematical analysis and modeling currently seem boundless.Eric’s group works within the creative and expansive neuroscience community at UW, and collaborates closely with Allen Institute for Brain Science, a unique and inspiring institution that we are lucky to have just across our city.

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Associate Professor Jonathan Weinstein

Department of Neurology

Email: jweinste@uw.edu

Research: Stroke is the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States. Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) in the brain is a robust neuroprotective phenomenon in which a brief ischemic exposure increases resistance to the injurious effects of subsequent prolonged ischemia. Microglia, the brain’s resident tissue macrophages, are primary mediators of neuroinflammation and are critical in the pathophysiology of stroke. Mechanistic information on the function of microglia in ischemia is limited and the role of microglia in IPC is unknown. All projects in my laboratory focus on characterizing the role of microglia in both IPC and stroke. My laboratory uses both in vivo and in vitro experimental models of ischemia to study microglial responses. For our in vivo studies, we couple the mouse middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) stroke model with ex vivo flow cytometric isolation of microglia from cortex. We then carry out cell targeted microarray analyses on the sorted cortical microglia.

Using this approach we are able to compare the microglial response to IPC/ischemia in wild-type mice with that of microglia in selected knockout and transgenic lines. For our in vitro experimental paradigm we expose cultured primary mouse microglia to hypoxic/hypoglycemic conditions and then we monitor an array of experimental parameters. Our recent results have implicated both Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) and type 1 interferon (IFN)-stimulated genes as key mediators of the microglial response to ischemia/IPC. Both TLR4 and the IFN family of cytokines are recognized as key components of the innate immune response. Ongoing projects in my laboratory are examining how disruption of the TLR4 and/or type 1 IFN signaling pathways specifically in microglia can affect both IPC and stroke. A primary goal of this research is to identify novel molecular targets for pharmacologic intervention in acute stroke.

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Email: zhaotc@uw.edu

Research: One big research area of LEAP concentrates on developing a comprehensive understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms that support language acquisition. For example, what structural and functional changes in the brain are relevant for infant speech learning? How may they be related to other factors, such as infants’ cognitive skills and genetics?

Another important research inquiry in our lab concerns the effect of the auditory environment and experiences on infants’ speech learning and general development, particularly the effect of music.

We are also highly focused on how speech learning in infancy is related to later language development, and if we can detect potential atypical language development from infancy. The hope is that our findings will support early intervention strategies.