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University of California, Berkeley
| Department of Molecular & Cell
Biology Winer Laboratory
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Neuroanatomy stands in a similar relation to
the neurosciences as mathematics does to physics. Neuroanatomy can specify the
substrates that underlie normal and pathological function as well as neural
plasticity. Without a neuroanatomical framework, physiological hypotheses are
less robust than they might be. We wish to understand
brain function using the auditory system as a model. We are now deriving the
structural principles that underlie tonotopic and binaural processing in the
auditory midbrain, thalamus, and cerebral cortex. Connectional tracers
(cholera toxin beta-fragment, biotinylated dextran amines, and fluorescent
compounds), and transmitter-specific labeling methods (immunocytochemistry
and anterograde transport) label functional brain circuits. Collaborative
physiological and anatomical experiments with Dr. Christoph Schreiner at UCSF
then address functional questions about cortical modular and laminar
organization. This enables us to pursue functionally driven hypotheses about
the organization of the auditory system. The ensuing findings have
significance for understanding larger principles of brain function such as
topography, evolution, and plasticity.
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