Ph.D. Training in Neuroscience

Faculty

Eric T. Ahrens
The Ahrens laboratory develops unique molecular and cellular MRI probes to visualize gene expression and immune cell trafficking into the brain. In related efforts, the researchers seek to understand the homeostasis of metal ions in brain tissues.

Alison Barth
The Barth group has generated transgenic mice that express fluorescent proteins in response to neural activity, providing a way to image and record from activated neural subsets. The laboratory is using this tool and others to identify specific cortical pathways that are involved in learning and memory.

Justin Crowley
The mechanisms underlying the development of neuronal structure and function in the visual system, including the complex interactions between neural activity, sensory experience and genetics in the generation of neuronal circuits, are a prominent area of research in the Crowley laboratory.

Mark Macbeth
The Macbeth lab is interested in the editing, or modification, of mRNAs that encode several neuronal receptors and ion channels. The adenosine to inosine mutations in the mRNA are essential for proper neuronal function, and research in the lab focuses on the regulation of the editing activity by a cell signaling molecule (inositol hexakisphosphate), as well as the effects of RNA editing on the activity of the encoded neural receptors and ion channels.

Carl R. Olson
Researchers in the Olson laboratory study the brain mechanisms of cognition by recording from single neurons in the cerebral cortex of behaving monkeys. Research interests include spatial vision, visual pattern recognition and executive control.

Joel R. Stiles
The Stiles laboratory uses spatially realistic 3-D models, unique Monte Carlo simulation algorithms (MCell), large-scale visualization methods (DReAMM, and high performance computing to study synaptic transmission and biochemical signaling pathways. Present projects focus on postsynaptic topology and quantal current variability at the mammalian neuromuscular junction, as well as presynaptic calcium dynamics and neurotransmitter release at the amphibian neuromuscular junction.

Peter Strick
Dr. Strick's research focuses on three major issues: the control of voluntary movement by the cerebral cortex, the functional organization of the basal ganglia and cerebellum and unraveling the circuitry of the central nervous system.

Nathan N. Urban
Work in the Urban lab focuses on understanding the physiological mechanisms underlying the functional and computational properties of brain neural networks, with a focus on the olfactory system. In particular, we are interested in how the physiological properties of cells and synapses in the olfactory system give rise to the functional circuits that transform the representations of olfactory stimuli.

Graduate Student Work in Neuroscience

Brett Benedetti
Brett is investigating the role that sensory experience plays in shaping the response properties of cortical neurons in vivo. Specifically, he is studying the plasticity of the somatosensory whisker respresentation in mice following different deprivation paradigms. To assess the properites of individual cortical neurons, he employs single unit extracellular recording of barrel cortex neurons in anesthetized animals in response to peripheral stimulation of the whisker pad.

Tamara Berdyyeva
The objective of Tamara's research in the laboratory of Dr.Olson is the investigation of the neural mechanisms underlying serial order behavior. Performing actions in the correct serial order is essential for survival in many situations. To meet this objective, Tamara records and analyzes activity of single neurons in different areas of the frontal cortex while the subjects perform serial order tasks.

Roger Clem
Roger’s work addresses the cellular events underlying the experience-dependent modification of neural circuits. His research employs in vitro whole-cell recording to examine how whisker stimulation alters the strength and composition of glutamatergic synapses in the somatosensory cortex of rodents, and how these changes relate to the input-output function of the constituent neurons and their propensity to undergo further plasticity.

Krishnan Padmanabhan
Krishnan is interested in questions about how neural circuits form during development and what this process of formation may tell us about the relative forces guiding the emrgence of the mind from the brain. He employs a host of techniques including anatomy, histology, two photon in vivo microscopy and optical imaging to address these questions of neural development.

Sonal Shruti
There is an increase in excitability of neurons after seizures. Sonal is trying to look at the role of voltage and calcium-dependent potassium channels known as BK (mslo, maxi-K) channels in this change in excitability in the cortical neurons of mice.

Other Students:
Vikrant Kapoor

Postdoctoral Research in Neuroscience

Roberto Fernández Galán
Galán recently detected memory trace in a living animal after it was exposed to a new stimulus.

Collaborations in Neuroscience

Nathan Urban collaborates with Bard Ermentrout (University of Pittsburgh) on approaches that combine experimental and computational approaches to understanding the mechanisms that underlie synchronization of populations of neurons.

Justin Crowley and Nathan Urban collaborate with Alan Waggoner (of the Molecular Biosensor and Imaging Center) on the development of new fluorescent traces for identifying patterns of neuronal connectivity in
circuits.

Recent Publications and Presentations

Ahrens, ET, Flores, R, Xu, HY, Morel, PA. In vivo imaging platform for tracking immunotherapeutic cells. Nat. Biotech. 2005; 23: 983-987.

Genove G, Glick BS, Barth AL. Brighter fluorescent reporter genes from multimerized fluorescent proteins. Biotechniques 2005; 39(6):814-22.

Galan RF, Ermentrout GB, Urban NN. Efficient estimation of phase-resetting curves in real neurons and its significance for neural-network modeling. Phys Rev Lett. 2005 Apr 22;94(15):158101.

Urban NN, Castro JB. Tuft calcium spikes in accessory olfactory bulb mitral cells. J Neurosci. 2005 May 18;25(20):5024-8.

QuickLinks for Neuroscience

Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC)
The CNBC focuses on models of cognitive function, brain imaging and molecular genetics of the nervous system. Carnegie Mellon faculty and graduate students from the Departments of Biological Sciences, Psychology, and Computer Science work jointly with researchers from the University of Pittsburgh.

CNBC Events

Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh (CNUP)
CNUP encourages and coordinates research and academic programs in neuroscience in the Pittsburgh area and fosters collaborative research between and among basic and clinical neuroscientists.

CNUP Calendar

CNUP Annual Retreat

CNUP Newsletter

Department of Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh

Department of Neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh

The Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
October 14-18, 2006, Atlanta, GA