Deborah Watson, postdoctoral fellow in the Harris Lab, received a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA award from the NIMH for her project entitled  “Dynamic regulation of SER during development and synaptic plasticity”.  The project will investigate how the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) modifies its organization to support dendritic spine and synapse structure during normal development and synaptic plasticity.

Dr. Kristen Harris recently published a paper entitled “Differential effects of strain, circadian cycle, and stimulation pattern on LTP and concurrent LTD in the dentate gyrus of freely moving rats” in the journal Hippocampus. This research revealed how these natural and experimental factors regulate granule cell excitability, and differentially affect LTP and concurrent LTD in the dentate […]

Dr. Kristen Harris received a RO1 grant from the NIH for her project entitled ” Developmental control of synapse structure with LTP”.  This project combines electron microscopy and long-term potentiation, a synaptic mechanism of learning and memory, to investigate the normal development of synapse structure and function.

Corey White, a postdoctoral fellow in the Podrack Lab, received a postdoctoral NRSA for his research project entitled “Neural correlates of decision bias in anxiety”.  This project seeks to understand why individuals with high levels of anxiety are biased to process threatening information.  fMRI and computational models of decision-making will be used to investigate the […]

Dr. Russ Poldrack’s Nature Methods publication was awarded the Innovation Award from the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society.  The Innovation Award recognizes an article authored by a SAN member and published in a scholarly outlet that makes a contribution likely to generate the discovery of new hypotheses, new phenomena, or new ways of thinking about the discipline […]

Tammy Tran, an undergraduate student in the Preston Lab, received the Rapaport-King Thesis Scholarship from the College of Liberal Arts.  The Rapaport-King Scholarship is awarded to Honors Program students in the College of Liberal Arts who are conducting research and writing a senior thesis.  Tammy also received an Undergraduate Research Fellowship awarded to students for […]

Dr. Ila Fiete recently published her paper entitled “Fundamental limits on persistent activity in networks of noisy neurons” in PNAS.  The research investigates memory, diffusion and information-diffusion inequality in the brain. Y. Burak and I. R. Fiete. (2012). Fundamental limits on persistent activity in networks of noisy neurons.  PNAS Early Edition (Oct. 9).

Dr. Hiroshi Nishiyama received a R01 grant from the NINDS for his project entitled “CNS Mechanisms of developmental synapse elimination”.  This project investigates how the precision of synaptic circuitry is created in the developing mammalian brain by observing the process in the intact, live animals.

John Widloski, graduate student in the Fiete Lab, received the Burroughs-Welcome Fund Award to attend the Methods in Computational Neuroscience summer course in Woods Hole, MA.

Akram Bakkor, graduate student in the Poldrack lab, received a National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship.  This fellowship supports Akram’s research project investigating the neural mechanisms underlying how learned behaviors are changed.  Using behavioral testing, modeling and fMRI analyses on human subjects the project will shed light on why habits can be so difficult […]