IU STARS Mentors - Neuroscience
Joshua William Brown: Studies the neural basis of cognitive control of behavior, using a combination of fMRI and computational neural modeling. Lab website found here.
Gregory Demas: The primary goal of our laboratory is the study of neuroendocine-immune-behavior interactions in an ecologically relevant context. Specifically, we study the environmental, social and neuroendocrine factors that contribute to seasonal changes in immune function and disease in seasonally breeding rodent species (e.g., deer mice, Siberian hamsters).
Joseph Farley: Animal learning and behavior and behavioral neuroscience -- behavioral neurobiology; cellular mechanisms of learning and memory; excitable membranes; molecular bases of signal tranduction.
Preston E. Garraghty: Behavioral neuroscience -- electrophysiological, neuroanatomical and immunocytochemical analysis of adult neural plasticity in cortical and subcortical structures; epilepsy and the behavioral effects of antiepileptic drugs on learning and memory in rats, rabbits, and humans.
Bill Hetrick:Clinical neuropsychology: investigate perceptual and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia and related disorders using neuropsychological, electroencephalographic (EEG) and electromyographic (EMG) techniques.
Thomas James: Cognitive neuroscience. Using functional MRI we investigate the human brain regions involved in visual face and object recognition and multisensory (vision, touch, hearing) object recognition.
Sharlene Newman: Cognitive Neuroscience - My research uses functional neuroimaging to study language and frontal lobe processes (problem-solving and planning primarily).
Brian O'Donnell: Use of behaviorial and electrophysiological techniques to investigate perceptual and attentional disturbances in severe mental illness, and neurodegenerative disorders.
George V. Rebec: Behavioral and systems neuroscience Ð The Rebec lab uses anatomical, chemical, and eletrophysiological procedures to analyze cellular and neural circuit operations in the brain. Current projects focus on the neural mechanisms underlying addiction to major drugs of abuse and the loss of cellular function in neurodegenerative disease.
Dale Sengelaub: Studies of the factors that regulate neuron morphology and function in the brain and spinal cord, and how structural specializations and changes are reflected behaviorally. Processes such as dendritic growth and retraction, and the maintenance of adult neuron morphology after nerve injury or spinal damage are of primary interest. Current projects include ontogeny and hormonal control of sex differences in spinal nuclei, functional and morphological plasticity in hormonally sensitive neuromuscular systems, and examination of the neuroprotective/therapeutic effects of hormones.
Olaf Sporns: Research interests include computational and cognitive neuroscience, functional integration and binding in the cortex, neural models of perception and action, network structure and dynamics, applications of information theory to the brain, embodied cognitive science and robotics.
William D. Timberlake: Biology and behavior -ecological and evolutionary analysis of learning, behavior systems, regulatory processes in appetitive behavior and ingestion, circadian and ultradian rhythms in feeding and drug abuse, time horizons, spatial control of locomotion, purposive behavior.
Cara Wellman: My research focuses on the neurobiology of stress, a critical variable in the development and expression of mental illness. By using simple animal models that permit the manipulation and control of stressors, I hope to understand the neural causes and consequences of psychological disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder. Currently, I am characterizing stress-induced changes in the structure, neurochemistry, and function of neurons in prefrontal cortex, and the expression of these neural changes in behaviors mediated by prefrontal cortex.
Note: Many of these faculty members are also listed under Biology, Cognitive Science, and Psychology and Brain Sciences.
