The University of Toledo

Office:  Block Health Sciences Building Room 120D

Tel: 419-383-4506

Ph.D., 1985, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

Somatosensory development, Cortical pattern formation,  injury-induced reorganization.

Single and Multi-unit electrophysiology, Immunocytochemistry, slow-release drug application.

My major research interests are focused on factors that influence the development and plasticity of patterned neural connections in the rodent somatosensory system.  Using the 'whisker to barrel' pathway pioneered by Drs. Thomas Woolsey and Hendrick Van Der Loos as a model system, experiments in my laboratory have been directed at understanding the development of this system and the factors which govern the reorganization of both peripheral and central connections in this pathway following nerve injury during development.  

My laboratory has also been interested in the role of early neuronal activity in the development and maintenance of patterned vibrissae-related connections in the primary somatosensory cortex (S-I).   
My laboratory showed that neural activity at the level of thalamocortical synapses is not essential for the maintenance of patterned neural connections since silencing activity in this region at birth did not prevent the appearance of vibrissae-related organization of thalamocortical axon terminations or postsynaptic cortical cells.  

More recently my laboratory has investigated the role of peripherally expressed and peripherally transported factors in the maintenance of vibrissae-related patterns in the trigeminal neuraxis.  Using drugs which attenuate axoplasmic transport in the infraorbital nerve, we have observed a disruption of the pattern of aggregation of higher-order brainstem cells that is not reflected by any disorganization of the central terminals of trigeminal primary afferents from which they derive their input.  This suggests that some factor or factors transported from the periphery may be necessary for maintaining the normal aggregation of vibrissae-sensitive neurons in the trigeminal neuraxis.  The nature of these factors is as yet unclear. 

My laboratory also works closely with that of Drs Richard Lane and Richard Mooney. We are currently collaborating on projects aimed at determining specific gene products belonging to the tyrosine kinase receptor family, which may influence the patterning of somatosensory connections.  variety of acutely isolated or cultured cell types.