Neuroscience - General Info, Specifics, News, Labs, Links
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General Info
So, I am researching in Neuroscience.. this is my profession. What is it all about? I will try to give a general idea here and get into the specifics in the "neuroscience - in detail" page. :-)
I am working in a project on Synaptic Plasticity and Learning & Memory, during development. To say it in simple words, we, in our laboratory here, are trying to understand the mechanisms by which neurons form connections (synapses) during development (immediately after birth), how the connections are strengthened, modified or regulated, how network activity can influence these connection, the chemicals (neurotransmitters) involved in such processes, the mechanism' of learning and memory, how synaptic activity can be modified in a beneficial way and their consequences.
The complex network of neurons, along with other cells, form functional connections in the brain. These connections (or circuits) are in turn responsible for specific tasks that we carry out. As a result of this, Neuroscience has branched out in many different levels, ranging from cellular and molecular neuroscience to behavioral, cognitive and systems neuroscience.
I work with electrophysiology at a single cell level, on a set up that is a custom built 2-photon confocal laser scanning microscope coupled with electrophysiology.
We have the Coherent Mira 900 lasers providing the 2-photon laser power and an Olympus confocal microscope unit helping us visualize the neurons. This is a very useful set up for simultaneous electrical recording (of neuronal activity) and imaging studies. The electrophysiology set up at the moment has the possibility to perform a maximum of 3 simultaneous patch recordings in 3 different neurons - though at the moment I use one of the manipulators for the electrical stimulation electrode while recording from the other (and the third one I have it removed from the setup because it was 'obstructing' my freedom to move near the other two manipulators and also because I am not using it right now... LOL.. ;-P).
We use Clampex for data acquisition and most of the electrophysiological recording tools are from Axon Instruments., as is Clampex itself. The manipulators are from Luigs and Neumann (I really like these manipulators, though they are highly sensitive and need good care). Data analysis is done offline using programs such as Clampfit, MiniAnalysis, SigmaPlot, SigmaStat, CorelDraw, Excel and some times MatLab (though I am yet to learn this MatLab thing fully!!!!!!)
I also study the molecular mechanisms involved in synaptic plasticity using specific blockers and inhibitors of various signaling molecules, as well as immuno-histochemistry studies on brain slices.
Specifics
"The task of neural science is to explain behavior in terms of the activities of the brain. How does the brain marshal its millions of individual nerve cells to produce behavior, and how are these cells influenced by the environment...? The last frontier of the biological sciences-their ultimate challenge-is to understand the biological basis of consciousness and the mental processes by which we perceive, act, learn, and remember." - Eric Kandel Principles of Neural science, fourth edition
I am working on understanding the mechanisms that underlie synaptic plasticity during development (and this would be my PhD write up as well!!!!)
This work combines electrophysiology, video imaging and molecular biology, to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in synaptic plasticity processes in the hippocampus during development. I am particularly interested in studying the circuitry involved, the role of depolarizing action of GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid), the signal transduction mechanisms involved and the basis of Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP) during development. The major part of the work has been completed, though I will write about it later - not now... haha (waiting for my publication, you see.. ;-)....)
News
Labs
Here are some wonderful neuroscience research labs around the world, that I like. Not that I don't like the others, but just that the research work is in line with my research interests too :-) Will keep updating frequently though...
http://www.ncrg.aston.ac.uk/NN/labs/america.html#usa
http://golgi.harvard.edu/Faculty/AreasDisplay.asp?Which=Neurobiology
http://neuroscience.jhu.edu/
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/neuroscience/indexn.php?ID=3
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/neuroscience/migrate/?listings=MOLECULAR
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/neuroscience/migrate/?listings=CELLULAR
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/neuroscience/migrate/?listings=DEVELOPMENTAL
Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/wibr/
http://www.babraham.ac.uk/
Tomas Bellamy
http://www.babraham.ac.uk/signalling/bellamy.html
http://www.babraham.ac.uk/pjl_pages/bellamy/bellamy.html
http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/
http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/
http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/postdoc/
http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/NB/
http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/NB/Davletov_B/
http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/nb/Davletov_B/group/
http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/NB/Goedert_M/
http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/
http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/neuroscience/
http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/neurophysiol/
http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/neurophysiol/fine/
http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/neurophysiol/ogden/
Mark Bear
http://web.mit.edu/picower/faculty/bear.html
http://bearlab-s1.mit.edu/BearLab/
Yasunori Hayashi
http://web.mit.edu/picower/faculty/hayashi.html
Carlos Lois
http://web.mit.edu/picower/faculty/lois.html
Morgan Sheng
http://web.mit.edu/picower/faculty/sheng.html
Mriganka Sur
http://web.mit.edu/picower/faculty/sur.html
http://web.mit.edu/msur/
Matthew Wilson
http://web.mit.edu/picower/faculty/wilson.html
http://web.mit.edu/wilsonlab/
Kullmann DM
http://www.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~dkullman/public.html
Mark Farrant
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Pharmacology/Research/mf.html
Michael Hausser
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/wibr/research/neuro/mh/index.htm
John Garthwaite
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/wibr/research/neuro/jg/index.htm
Leon Lagnado
http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/groups/LL/
http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/NB/
Chris J McBain
http://neuroscience.nih.gov/Lab.asp?Org_ID=124
Jeffrey S. Diamond
http://intra.ninds.nih.gov/Lab.asp?Org_ID=57
Nicholas Spitzer
http://neurograd.ucsd.edu/faculty/detail.php?id=133
http://www.biology.ucsd.edu/labs/spitzer/
Anirvan Ghosh
http://biology.ucsd.edu/faculty/ghosh.html
http://www.biology.ucsd.edu/labs/ghosh/
Rafael Yuste
http://columbiauniversity.net/cu/biology/faculty/yuste/
Greg Stuart
http://jcsmr.anu.edu.au/org/dns/neurosignal/index.php
Nelson Spruston
http://www.northwestern.edu/neurobiology/faculty/spruston/
Peter Jonas
http://jonas2.physiol.uni-freiburg.de/
Dan Johnston
http://clm.utexas.edu/djlab06/
Helmut Koester
http://clm.utexas.edu/CLMsite/koester.html
Kristen Harris
http://clm.utexas.edu/CLMsite/Harris.html
Dan Feldman
http://mcb.berkeley.edu/faculty/NEU/feldmand.html
http://mcb.berkeley.edu/index.php?option=com_mcbdirectory&task=detail&Itemid=115&id=4477
Erin Schuman
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~emslab/
Robert Malinow
http://malinowlab.cshl.edu/
Gordon M Shepherd
http://info.med.yale.edu/neurobio/shepherd/shepherd.html
Mark Yeckel
http://info.med.yale.edu/neurobio/yeckel/yeckel.html
Michael Crair
http://info.med.yale.edu/neurobio/crair/Crair%20Lab.htm
Nenad Sestan
http://info.med.yale.edu/neurobio/Sestan/Index.html
Mary Blue
http://neuroscience.jhu.edu/MaryBlue.php
Michela Gallagherhttp://neuroscience.jhu.edu/MichelaGallagher.php
http://www.psy.jhu.edu/~gallagherlab/
Tobias Bonhoeffer
http://www.neuro.mpg.de/english/people/bonhoeffer_t.shtml
http://www.neuro.mpg.de/english/rd/csn/index.html
http://www.neuro.mpg.de/english/rd/csn/research/index.html
Gilles Laurent
http://biology.caltech.edu/Members/Laurent
Zach Mainen
http://www.cshl.edu/public/SCIENCE/mainen.html
James W Fawcett
Pascal Fries
http://www.ru.nl/fcdonders/staff/neuronal_coherence/pascal_fries/
Terrence J. Sejnowski
http://www.salk.edu/faculty/faculty_details.php?id=48http://biology.ucsd.edu/faculty/sejnowski.html
http://www.cnl.salk.edu/
Charles F. Stevens
http://www.salk.edu/faculty/faculty_details.php?id=50
Dave R. Schubert
http://www.salk.edu/faculty/faculty_details.php?id=46
Daniel L. Schacter
http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~dsweb/
Carlos Ibanez - Karolinska Iinstitute, Sweden
http://www.cedb.se/cedbsite/faculty/ibanez.html
http://zephyr.neuro.ki.se/
Florian Engert
http://golgi.harvard.edu/Faculty/Engert.html
Jeff Lichtmanhttp://golgi.harvard.edu/Faculty/Lichtman.html
Thomas Knopfelhttp://www.brain.riken.jp/en/t_knopfel.html
http://neurodynamics.brain.riken.jp/
Alexey Semyanov
http://www.brain.riken.jp/en/a_semyanov.html
Dwight Bergles
http://neuroscience.jhu.edu/DwightBergles.php
http://www.bergleslab.com/
Richard Huganir
http://neuroscience.jhu.edu/RichardHuganir.php
http://www.bs.jhmi.edu/neuroscience/huganir/index.htm
David Linden
http://neuroscience.jhu.edu/DavidLinden.php
Paul Worley
http://neuroscience.jhu.edu/PaulWorley.php
Amparo Acker-Palmer
http://www.neuro.mpg.de/english/junior/sigtran/index.html
Carla Shatz
http://www.stanford.edu/group/shatzlab/
Michael Greenberg
http://www.childrenshospital.org/cfapps/research/data_admin/Site159/mainpageS159P0.html
http://www.childrenshospital.org/research/greenberg/index.html
John Desmond
http://www.neuroscience.jhu.edu/JohnDesmond.php
http://webhost5.nts.jhu.edu/~nimlab/index.html
Richard O’Brien
http://www.neuroscience.jhu.edu/RichardOBrien.php
Rejji Kuruvilla
http://www.neuroscience.jhu.edu/RejjiKuruvilla.php
http://www.bio.jhu.edu/kuruvilla/index.html
Jay Baraban
http://www.neuroscience.jhu.edu/JayBaraban.php
David Foster
http://www.neuroscience.jhu.edu/DavidFoster.php
Paul Worley
http://www.neuroscience.jhu.edu/PaulWorley.php
Darwin Berg
http://www.biology.ucsd.edu/faculty/berg.html
Shelley Halpain
http://www.biology.ucsd.edu/faculty/halpain.html
Andersen @ CaltechSloanSwartzCenter
http://www.vis.caltech.edu/
Kennedy Lab @ CaltechSloanSwartzCenter
http://www.its.caltech.edu/%7Embklab/
John M. Allman
http://biology.caltech.edu/Members/Allman
Koch Lab
http://www.klab.caltech.edu/index.shtml
***** Max Planck Neuroscience *****
http://www.gpneuro.uni-goettingen.de/
http://www.gpneuro.uni-goettingen.de/faculty/f_marquardt.html
http://www.gpneuro.uni-goettingen.de/faculty/f_schlueter.html
***** EPFL Neuroscience *****
http://bmi.epfl.ch/
http://bmi.epfl.ch/page61218.html - Carl Petersen
http://lsens.epfl.ch/
http://bmi.epfl.ch/page61216.html - Henry Markram
V Ramachandran
http://psy.ucsd.edu/chip/ramabio.html
http://psy.ucsd.edu/chip/CBC2.html
Ravi Iyengar
http://www.mountsinai.org/Research/Centers%20Laboratories%20and%20Programs/Iyengar%20Laboratory
http://www.mssm.edu/labs/iyengar/general_information.shtml
Ehud Kaplan
http://www.mountsinai.org/Find%20A%20Faculty/profile.do?id=0000072500001497219202&officeDrawer=biz
Prof. David Attwell
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/npp/da.html
John O’Keefe
http://www.anat.ucl.ac.uk/research/okeefe/index.html
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/neuroscience/Page.php?ID=12&ResearcherID=73