Arnold, Don
Professor of Biological Sciences
The Arnold lab develops molecular tools for studying and manipulating neural circuits. We have developed novel recombinant probes known as FingRs, which label synaptic proteins such as PSD95, Gephyrin, and CamKii with high fidelity without causing off-target effects. We have used FingRs to visualize the formation of memories in larval zebrafish. These probes can also be used to ablate synapses, leading to functional disruption of neural circuits in a fast, efficient, and reversible manner. More recently, we developed ATLAS, a protein that mediates anterograde tracing of neural circuits from genetically determined neurons. We believe that ATLAS and its variants for tracing neuromodulatory circuits will be powerful tools for observing and manipulating neural circuits in the context of living organisms.
Kanoski, Scott
Professor of Biological Sciences
The prevalence of obesity has exploded over the past 40 years. The biological systems that underlie the excessive eating behavior contributing to obesity onset remain poorly understood. Our research goal is to discover the neural systems and psychological processes that control energy balance, with a particular focus on understanding the neurobiological substrates that regulate obesity-promoting behaviors such as food impulsivity and environmental cue-induced feeding. Another primary focus of our lab is to study how the brain is negatively impacted by dietary and metabolic factors. Consumption of Western diets (high in saturated fatty acids and sugars) not only contributes to obesity development, but also produces deficits in learning and memory capabilities and can even increase the risk for developing dementia. We are currently examining the specific causal dietary factors, critical developmental periods, and neurobiological mechanisms underlying diet-induced cognitive decline. Ongoing research identifies the gut microbiome as a critical link between unhealthy junk food diets and neurocognition.
McKemy, David
Professor of Biological Sciences
The McKemy laboratory studies the neurobiological basis of pain, focusing on general somatic sensations of pain, painful neuropathies associated with chronic injury and disease, and the mechanisms that lead to migraine headaches. The lab is also interested in how the microbiome alters general physiological functions that can lead to pain and other disorders.
Watts, Alan
Professor of Biological Sciences
My work focuses on understanding how the brain contributes to the development, manifestation, and complications of diabetes and obesity, primarily on how this happens at the neural network level. In particular, I am interested in how interoceptive and exteroceptive signals interact with the brain to control endocrine and behavioral responses to energy deficits. Currently I am using neuroinformatic methods to explore how the rat brain connectome can reveal the organization of the control networks that influence the behavioral, endocrine, and autonomic motor events associated with metabolic physiology and its dysfunction.
