Faculty
Raphael Pinaud
Neural mechanisms of sensory processing and plasticity
Our laboratory is focused on how sensory experiences are encoded, processed and transformed in brain circuits. We are particularly interested in understanding how classic neurotransmitter systems and neurohormones shape the coding of sensory (auditory and visual) signals, and how experience controls gene expression programs required for the learning and memorization of behaviorally-relevant sensory stimuli. To directly address these questions, our laboratory pursues a multi-disciplinary research program that utilizes a variety of tools including: molecular and cellular biology methods, genomics and high-throughput proteomics approaches, whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology, multi-site, multi-electrode extracellular recordings in awake animals, computational and information theoretical methods, as well as behavioral assays. Our research is expected to help elucidate how behaviorally-relevant sensory signals are processed and learned by the healthy adult brain, and how manipulations directed at neurotransmitters and neurohormones may enhance or recover these processes in the diseased brain.
