Areas of Research

“I shall never be content until the beneficent influence of the University reaches every family of the state.”

UW President Charles Van Hise in 1905

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Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Faculty: Chapman, Dent, Fettiplace, Zhao, Jackson, Roopra, Moore, Jones, Z. Huang, Grinblat, Gomez, Sinha

The molecular and cellular neuroscience group contains faculty studying: (i) synaptic transmission and the molecular basis of exocytosis; (ii) the structure and function of ion channels activated by voltage, ligand binding or mechanical stimuli; (iii) neuronal properties underlying function in brain regions such as the spinal cord, auditory brainstem, superior colliculus and hippocampus. (iv) neural development and repair. Techniques used range from patch clamping to reconstitution of proteins in artificial systems, incorporation of fluorescent reporters into proteins to calcium and voltage imaging in neuronal arrays.

Developmental Neuroscience

Developmental Neuroscience

Faculty: Dent, Fettiplace, Zhao, Moore, Z. Huang, Grinblat, Gomez

The adult human nervous system contains over 100 billion neurons connected through 10 trillion synapses. Faculty in the department of neuroscience are interested in the molecular basis of normal development of neuronal connectivity, which is important for the goal of repairing neural circuits after injury or degenerative disease. Our neuroscience laboratories use state of the art genetic, biochemical, cellular imaging, and electrophysiological approaches to answer a variety of key questions regarding neural development and repair. Areas of focus include mechanisms of early pattern formation, neural crest and cortical neuron migration, axon guidance and dendritic spinogenesis, assembly of appropriate synaptic contacts, as well as stem-cell mediated neuronal repair.

Systems Neuroscience

Systems Neuroscience

Faculty: Fettiplace, Jackson, Jones, Roopra, Rosenberg, Sinha

Systems Neuroscience has a long and illustrious history at UW-Madison, dating back to Clinton Woolsey who started the Laboratory of Neurophysiology back in the 1950s. A special emphasis on studies of the auditory system began with the arrival of Jerzy Rose in 1959 and continues in the department with a distinguished auditory group that studies sensory processing at several different levels from the cochlear hair cells to the auditory cortex. The visual system is another area of focus in our department as well as a wide range of motor systems from the spinal cord to higher order cognitive processes, neuroendocrine systems, and sensory coding.

Translational Neuroscience

Translational Neuroscience

Faculty: Dent, Zhao, Roopra, Rosenberg, Jones, Z. Huang, Gomez

The long-term goals of the Neuroscience faculty research are to translate information gained from laboratory benches into clinical applications. Diverse model organisms have been employed by Neuroscience investigators, ranging from invertebrates to transgenic rodents and non-human primates, to identify modalities that regulate brain functions at molecular, cellular, and system levels. In addition, human stem cell models, including those from patients with neurological disorders, allow verification of observations made in animal models in bona fide, diseased human cells/tissues. Information integrated from and filtered through both animal and human model systems has shed light on the pathological development of and led to devise of gene and/or cell based strategies for neurological conditions, including developmental disorders (e.g., Rett syndrome, Autism, and Fragile X syndrome), psychiatric conditions (e.g., epilepsy), and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s disease).

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