The sense of taste provides animals with a means of discriminating nutritive from noxious compounds in potential food sources. Neural circuits are thought to represent …
Notch signaling is a key regulator of developmental processes in many metazoans. However, it is also active in the adult nervous system of animals ranging …
The modern study of animal camouflage has received renewed interest in the past two decades. Rapid adaptive camouflage is particularly interesting because it allows us …
Animal behavior is driven by perception of biological need and environmental context. Internal representations of the external world help us to interact with and navigate …
Non-visual opsin receptors have gained a broad interest for their potential to modulate non-visual behaviors in the retina and brain. Recently, there has been progress …
Opsins are members of the rhodopsin G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) family that mediate phototransduction in both invertebrates and vertebrates. More specifically, humans have nine types …
This thesis aims to contribute to the practical deployment of a new type of multichannel subdermal wireless EEG system under development at the Nurmikko Lab …
Early in the development of Xenopus laevis tadpoles, as the animals become capable of actively navigating their environment, individual neurons in the optic tectum become …
The brain is composed of discrete units called neurons. Neurons communicate with each other and form functional circuits, the fundamental computational units of the nervous …
The thalamus is essential for normal brain function. The thalamus is widely interconnected with other brain areas, and is best known for relaying sensory information …
The thalamus is an important subcortical structure that relays afferent information to the neocortex, provides a pathway for corticocortical interaction, and plays key roles in …
The Neocortex is a complex brain structure that represents the outside world, optimizes behavior, and provides associations based on prior learning. The Neocortex achieves these …
Inhibitory interneurons are essential for normal cortical function. They prevent seizures, regulate temporal and spatial coding, and generate oscillations and synchrony in pyramidal cells. The …
Neural circuits underlie all functions of the brain including perception, memory, and the execution of behavior. Neural circuits are composed of neurons, the basic structural …
Alcohol is the most used and abused psychoactive substance globally, yet our understanding of how it alters brain function and behavior is incomplete. For centuries …
Temperature is a fundamental property that affects all biologic systems, including the brain. The high temperatures of fever states can trigger febrile seizures in children, …
This work presents several experiments designed to explore the use of spatial memory by echolocating big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) through observable flight behavior, specifically …
Over the last few decades, scientists have begun to fully recognize the importance of astroglia in synaptic formation and function. The perisynaptic glial processes are …
Most sensory information destined for the neocortex is relayed there from the thalamus, where considerable transformation occurs. One powerful means of transformation involves interactions between …
Nervous system development depends on the precise organization of a complex series of events. Many hundreds of distinct neuronal types must be generated in the …
