Spring Break
Bio professor awarded $2.5 million grant for neuroscience research
by Holly Leighton and Lital Shair
News | 10/2/07
Posted online at 8:17 PM EST on 10/1/07
/ Last updated at 2:20 PM EST on 10/1/07
With the fall semester well under way, many students find themselves adapting to changes in their educational and social environments. Whether this process is simple or challenging, Prof. Gina Turrigiano (BIO) said we can understand how we learn if we think of our minds as working like "tiny machines."
"The idea behind this project is to come up with a way to visualize how these tiny machines work," Turrigiano said about her latest research, a project she has been working on for about a year.
Turrigiano was recently awarded one of 12 in 2007 Pioneer Awards given by the National Institute of Health for her proposed research in the field of neuroscience. The award includes a $2.5 million research grant that will span over five years and has a prestigious reputation in the field of science.
"I was notified by telephone... it was very exciting...I was very happy and very honored
by this award," Turrigiano said.
Turrigiano has become well known for her work in defining a process known as synaptic scaling. "[Synaptic scaling] helps the nervous system balance long-term stability with changes that occur during learning," wrote Prof. Eve Marder (BIO), who worked closely with Turrigiano when she was a post-doctorate student at Brandeis, in an e-mail to the Justice.
"The question is what goes wrong in various neurological diseases," Marder wrote. Turrigiano said that by using this method we should be able to look at what went wrong."
Turrigiano has proposed a project to map the location of the proteins that receive neural signals throughout the brain, according to collaborator and retired Brandeis prof. David DeRosier.
"[The brain] is like a little machine," DeRosier said, echoing Turrigiano's metaphor "You want to know where the parts are."
Synaptic scalling also helps explain how the brain adapts to change and makes new discoveries while continuing to act on past knowledge, an idea that is important in educational and maturing processes. Turrigiano is known for her innovation and creativity, Marder wrote.
"The idea behind this project is to come up with a way to visualize how these tiny machines work," Turrigiano said about her latest research, a project she has been working on for about a year.
Turrigiano was recently awarded one of 12 in 2007 Pioneer Awards given by the National Institute of Health for her proposed research in the field of neuroscience. The award includes a $2.5 million research grant that will span over five years and has a prestigious reputation in the field of science.
"I was notified by telephone... it was very exciting...I was very happy and very honored
by this award," Turrigiano said.
Turrigiano has become well known for her work in defining a process known as synaptic scaling. "[Synaptic scaling] helps the nervous system balance long-term stability with changes that occur during learning," wrote Prof. Eve Marder (BIO), who worked closely with Turrigiano when she was a post-doctorate student at Brandeis, in an e-mail to the Justice.
"The question is what goes wrong in various neurological diseases," Marder wrote. Turrigiano said that by using this method we should be able to look at what went wrong."
Turrigiano has proposed a project to map the location of the proteins that receive neural signals throughout the brain, according to collaborator and retired Brandeis prof. David DeRosier.
"[The brain] is like a little machine," DeRosier said, echoing Turrigiano's metaphor "You want to know where the parts are."
Synaptic scalling also helps explain how the brain adapts to change and makes new discoveries while continuing to act on past knowledge, an idea that is important in educational and maturing processes. Turrigiano is known for her innovation and creativity, Marder wrote.
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