Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey

My research interests are in the neural substrates of memory formation. My laboratory studies the plasticity of the brain, and in particular the plasticity of the sensory cortex in the auditory system as animals learn and remember about the sounds they hear and what they mean. We use simple models of associative learning, e.g., hear a sound, get reward. Thus sounds gain behavioral meaning because they predict reward. How does the brain encode this sound-specific information? My laboratory investigates this question in a multi-level approach using behavioral training and tests, electrophysiological recordings from the brain, and molecular genetics to understand the mechanisms that dictate how animals (like humans) can learn and remember, and how the brain changes as a function of this learning. We are most interested in epigenetic mechanisms that control gene expression necessary for experience-dependent neural plasticity, and ultimately stable alterations in animal behavior. Epigenetic mechanisms of transcriptional control offer an entry point to identify key genes associated with plasticity and adaptive behavior. We are interested in using an animal model of auditory learning, memory and neural plasticity to identify key genes that may be involved in auditory communication and learning disorders, e.g., autism.