Fragile X syndrome, a leading cause of autism and the most common form of inherited intellectual disability, results from the loss of Fragile X mental …
The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is the cholinergic synapse between a presynaptic motor neuron and postsynaptic muscle fiber. The stability of this synapse is compromised in …
Introduction: Glutamate (Glu) is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, yet its direct contributions to subjective experience in healthy humans have yet to be …
The central nervous system (CNS) contains a complex assortment of cell types and extracellular matrix proteins, which are arranged into an intricate architecture and ultimately …
This dissertation explores the transpersonal forms of thinking and feeling that became imaginable in the nineteenth century, when Victorian literature and science together defined the …
The neural networks consisting of the axonal tracts that interconnect the thalamus and the neocortex are central to information processing where the thalamus acts as …
My graduate work examined the reaction of neuronal cells to the shape of their extra-cellular environment. Over the last century, many studies have confirmed that …
Neural circuits give direct insight into cognition, behavior, and various disease states. A circuit’s connectivity largely determines its role, highlighting the importance of circuit mapping. …
An essential step in the development of a cortical auditory neural prothesis (ANP) is the development of a reliable method for reconstructing acoustic stimuli from …
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability characterized by its behavioral deficits, including disrupted social interactions and repetitive behaviors. Although it affects a large …
The need to arrest ongoing or planned actions is a hallmark of adaptive control that is crucial for goal-directed behaviors and survival. When the brain …
Human pluripotent stem cells have the theoretical capacity to produce every cell type of the body in vitro. Such stem cell-derived tissue grants unprecedented access …
Ubiquitin- proteasome (UPS) and the autophagy- lysosome are the two main systems responsible for degradation and maintaining protein homeostasis in eukaryotic cells. Impairments of either …
A big part of brain sciences is concentrated on deciphering what is signal versus noise; that is, classifying neural dynamics into an essential part of …
This thesis highlights our advances across many disciplines developing a fully implantable, low power, broadband, and wireless neural recording platform for use in persons with …
The etiology of schizophrenia (SCZ) remains elusive, though dopaminergic and genetic influences have been established as contributing factors to the disease’s pathophysiology. Current treatments for …
The brain is a highly-privileged organ within the body. Evolution has ensured that access to brain tissue is tightly regulated against or completely impenetrable to …
Neuroprosthesis research aims to enable communication between the brain and external assistive devices while restoring lost functionality such as occurs from stroke, spinal cord injury …