Branching out
The Department of Neuroscience leads diverse efforts to understand how the brain works
If you could take a tour through your brain, you'd be amazed at how much is going on. Even on those days when it feels a bit like nobody's home, the space between your ears is spinning with activity that allows you to breathe, walk, read, understand, read, philosophize, and much, much more. Making it all happen are countless finely orchestrated interactions within and between distinct and diverse parts of your brain.
Interestingly — and not coincidentally — that's a lot what things are like in the Department of Neuroscience. Created in the late 1990s when the University reorganized its biological sciences programs, the department is home to researchers working at a variety of levels and addressing a spectrum of questions to create a web of activity aimed at understanding how the brain works.
When it was first formed, the department brought together faculty from a variety of University departments, including physiology, cell biology, and neurosurgery, to explore common topics such as pain, brain development, and learning and memory. The reorganization also added 12 junior faculty members who have contributed new strength and variety to the already solid program. Just as different parts of the brain work together to do jobs none could do alone, faculty are better able not only to pursue their own line of research, but also interact and integrate their efforts as they seek to build a better picture of how the brain works. Research ranges from molecules to entire organisms, from humans to songbirds, from vision to abstract thought.
Ebner
"The Department of Neuroscience is thriving," says department head Timothy J. Ebner, M.D., Ph.D. "Adding a large number of talented new faculty to a highly successful group of established faculty has energized the research enterprise. The enthusiasm and momentum of the department is palpable. This is an exciting time."
Following are just three examples of the many research projects currently led by junior faculty in the department.