Sarah L. Pallas, Ph.D.
Professor
Department
of
Phone: (404) 413-5425
FAX: (404) 413-5301
e-mail: spallas AT gsu.edu
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Developmental Neurobiology of Mammalian Sensory Systems
Neocortical Development and Evolution
Mechanisms of Developmental Plasticity
Visual and Auditory Neurophysiology
Functional Neuroanatomy
EMPLOYMENT
2006- Georgia State University, Full Professor,
Department of Biology, Graduate Program
in Neurobiology
& Behavior
1996-2005 Georgia State University,
Associate Professor, Department of Biology,
Graduate Program in Neurobiology &
Behavior
1992-1996 Baylor College of Medicine, Assistant Professor, Division of
Neuroscience
1992-1996 Baylor College of Medicine Assistant Professor, Program in
Developmental Biology
TRAINING
2002 New England BioLabs Summer
Course in Molecular Biology and PCR
1987-1992 Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Postdoctoral fellow with M.
Sur, Department of Brain & Cognitive
Sciences
1987 Cornell University, Ph.D. in Neurobiology under Barbara Finlay. Thesis:
"Mechanisms of afferent/target matching and the construction of receptive
field properties in the mammalian midbrain".
1981 Marine Biological Laboratory,
Woods Hole. Neural Systems and Behavior summer
course.
1980 Iowa State
University, M.S. in Zoology
under Charles
Drewes. Thesis: "The rapid tail
flattening response in the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris L.: An anatomical and electrophysiological
study".
1977 Univ. of
Minnesota, B.S. summa cum laude in Biology
under William Schmid. Thesis: "The effects of
dehydration on renal structure in Peromyscus leucopus."
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
Society for Neuroscience
International Brain Research Organization
American Association for the Advancement of
Science
National Association for Biomedical Research
National Association of Biology Teachers
Foundation for Biomedical Research
National Center for Science Education
Georgia Citizens for Integrity in
Science Education
American Association of University Professors
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Animal Sensation and Movement Panel member National Science Foundation
Ad hoc reviewer, National Science Foundation
Ad hoc Reviewer, Human Frontiers in Science Program
Ad Hoc Reviewer, Wellcome Trust
Ad Hoc Reviewer, National Medical Research Council of Singapore
Reviewer, Science
Reviewer, Nature Neuroscience
Reviewer, Journal of Comparative Neurology
Reviewer, Journal of Neuroscience
Reviewer, Neuron
Reviewer, Journal of Neurophysiology
Reviewer, European Journal of Neuroscience
Reviewer, Visual Neuroscience
Reviewer, Experimental Neurology
Reviewer, Cerebral Cortex
Reviewer, Learning and Memory
Peer Commentator, Developmental Science
Peer Commentator, Behavioral and Brain Sciences
HONORS AND AWARDS
1977 B.S. summa cum
laude, University of Minnesota
1979-80 Research Grant, Iowa State University
1985-86 Research Grant, Cornell Chapter of Sigma Xi
1986-87 Traineeship, NIH Training Grant (competitive)
1980-83 Traineeship, NIH Training Grant (competitive)
1985-86 Research Grant, Sigma Xi National
1988-89 Postdoctoral Fellowship, McKnight Foundation
1989-92 Postdoctoral Fellowship (NRSA), NIH
1992 Symposium
speaker, Keystone Symposium
1993 Symposium
speaker, Gordon Conference on Neural Plasticity
1994 Symposium
speaker, Intl. Soc. for Devel. Neurosci. Meeting
1994-97 Whitehall Foundation Award
1995 Symposium
speaker, European Neuroscience Meeting
1997
Research Initiation Grant, Georgia State University
1999-00 Whitehall Foundation Award
2000 Symposium
Chair, Multisensory Research Conference
2001 Outstanding
Faculty Achievement Award Nomination, GSU
2002 Symposium Chair,
Gordon Conference on Neuroethology
2004 Nominee,
Evolution Education Award, NABT
2005 Awardee, Evolution Education Award, NABT
INVITED COLLOQUIA
1990 Dept. of Neuropathology, Harvard University
1990 Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sci., M.I.T.
1991 Dept. of Biology, Texas A&M University
1991 Division of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine
1991 Dept. of Psychology, Indiana University
1992 Keystone Symposium, Synapse Formation and Function
1992 Dept. of Otolaryngology, University of Washington
1992 Dept. of Ophthalmology, University of British Columbia
1993 Dept. of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin
1993 Gordon Conference on Neural Plasticity, Wolfeboro, NH
1993 Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford University, England
1994 Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington
1994 Intl. Soc. for Devel. Neurosci. Meeting, San
Diego, CA
1995 Dept. of Neuroscience, Case Western Reserve University
1995 Dept. of Biology, Wesleyan University
1995 European Neuroscience Assoc. Meeting, Amsterdam
1996 Dept. of Brain & Cog. Sci.,
University of Rochester
1996 Dept. of Biology, Georgia State University
1996 Dept. of Biology, Trinity College
1996 Dept. of Anatomy, NE Ohio Universities College of Medicine
1996 Dept. of Biology, Temple University
1999 School of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky
2000 Frontiers in Neuroscience Series, Emory University
2000 Dept. of Psychology Distinguished Speaker Series, Cornell
University
2000 Dept. of Neurobiology & Anatomy, Wake Forest University
2001 Dept. of Biomedical Science, Iowa State University
2001 Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon
2001 Dept. of Biology, Morehouse College
2001 Dept. of Cell Biology, Medical College of Georgia
2001 Dept. of Neuroscience, University of Valparaiso, Valparaiso, Chile
2001 Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Chile, Santiago,
Chile
2002 Dept. of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland-Baltimore
2003 Dept. of Biological Sciences, Stanford University
2003 Satellite Symposium Speaker, Development and Plasticity in Sensory
Thalamus and Cortex, 33rd SfN Meeting
2004 Cold Spring Harbor Labs Mtg
on Axon Guidance and Neural Plasticity, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
2005 Agnes Scott College, Ctr. Behav. Neurosci.
Symposium, Atlanta, GA
2005 University of Buenos Aires Sch Sciences,
Dept. of Biology, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2005 University of Chile, Faculty of Medicine, Program in Integrative
Neurosciences,
Santiago, Chile
2006 University of Wyoming
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Integrative Neuroscience
Fundamentals of Biology II
Animal Biology
Developmental Neurobiology
Neuroethology
Career Opportunities in Biology
Topics in Teaching H.S. Biology-Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of
Science
Graduate Research Seminar
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PUBLICATIONS
Razak, K.A., S.L. Pallas (2007) Inhibitory plasticity facilitates recovery of stimulus velocity tuning in the superior colliculus after chronic NMDA receptor blockade. J. Neurosci. 27(27): 7275-7283.
Carrasco, M.M., S.L.
Pallas (2006) Early visual
experience prevents but cannot reverse deprivation-induced loss of refinement
in adulthood. Visual Neuroscience 23(6):845-852.
Razak, K.
A. and S.L. Pallas (2006) Dark rearing reveals the
mechanism underlying stimulus size tuning of superior colliculus
neurons. Visual Neuroscience, 23(5): 741-748.
Razak, K. A. and S.L. Pallas (2005) Neural mechanisms of stimulus
velocity tuning in the superior colliculus. J. Neurophysiol
94(5):3573-3589.
Carrasco, M.M., K.A. Razak, and S.L. Pallas (2005) Visual experience is necessary for maintenance but not development of refined retinotopic maps in superior colliculus. J. Neurophysiol. 94: 1962-1970.
Lynn-Bullock, C.P., K. Welshans, S.L. Pallas, and P.S. Katz (2004) The effects of oral 5-HTP administration on 5-HTP and 5-HT immunoreactivity in monoaminergic brain regions of rats. J. Chem. Neuroanat, 27:129-138.
Razak, K.A., L. Huang, and S.L. Pallas (2003) NMDA receptor blockade in the superior colliculus increases receptive field size without altering velocity and size tuning. J. Neurophysiol. 90: 110-119.
Huang, L. and S.L. Pallas (2001) NMDA antagonists in the superior colliculus prevent developmental plasticity but not visual transmission or map compression. J. Neurophysiol 86: 1179-1194.
von Melchner, L., S. L. Pallas and M. Sur (2000) Visual behavior induced by retinal projections directed to the auditory pathway. Nature 404:871-875. [Reviewed in Nature, Current Biology, NY Times, Faculty of 1000]
Gao, W.-J., A.B. Wormington, D.E. Newman, and S.L. Pallas (2000) Development of inhibitory circuitry in visual and auditory cortex of postnatal ferrets: immunocytochemical localization of calbindin and parvalbumin-containing neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 422:140-157.
Pallas, S.L., T. Littman and D.R. Moore (1999) Cross–modal reorganization of callosal connectivity without altering thalamocortical projections. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96: 8751-8756.
Gao, W.-J. and S. L. Pallas (1999) Cross-modal reorganization of horizontal connectivity in auditory cortex without altering thalamocortical projections. J. Neurosci. 19:7940-7950.
Gao, W.-J., D.E. Newman, A.B. Wormington,
and S. L. Pallas (1999)
Development of inhibitory circuitry in visual and auditory cortex
of postnatal ferrets: immunocytochemical localization
of GABAergic neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 409: 261-273.
Pallas, S.L. and M. Sur (1994) Morphology of retinal axon arbors induced to arborize in a novel target– the medial geniculate nucleus. II. Comparison with axons from the inferior colliculus. J. Comp. Neurol. 349: 363-376.
Pallas, S.L. J. Hahm and M. Sur (1994) Morphology of retinal axon arbors induced to arborize in a novel target– the medial geniculate nucleus. I. Comparison with other retinal ganglion cells. J. Comp. Neurol. 349: 343-362.
Xiong, M.-J., S.L. Pallas, S. Lim and B.L. Finlay (1994) Regulation of retinal ganglion cell axon arbor size by target availability: Mechanisms for compression and expansion of the retinotectal projection. J. Comp. Neurol. 344: 581-597.
Pallas, S.L. and M. Sur (1993) Visual projections induced into the auditory pathway of ferrets. II. Corticocortical connections of visually-driven primary auditory cortex (AI). J. Comp. Neurol. 337: 317-333.
Roe, A.W., S.L. Pallas, Y. Kwon and M. Sur (1992) Visual projections routed to the auditory pathway in ferrets: Receptive fields of visual neurons in primary auditory cortex. J. Neurosci. 12: 3651-3664.
Pallas, S.L. and B.L. Finlay (1991) Compensation for population size mismatches in the hamster retinotectal system: Alterations in the organization of retinal projections. Visual Neuroscience 6: 271-281.
Roe, A.W., S.L. Pallas, J. Hahm, and M. Sur (1990) A map of visual space induced in primary auditory cortex. Science 250: 818-820.
Pallas, S.L., A.W. Roe, and M. Sur (1990) Visual projections induced into the auditory pathway of ferrets. I. Novel inputs to primary auditory cortex (AI) from the LP/Pulvinar complex and the topography of the MGN-AI projection. J. Comp. Neurol. 298: 50-68.
Pallas, S.L. and B.L. Finlay (1989) Conservation of receptive field properties of superior collicular cells after developmental rearrangements of retinal input. Visual Neuroscience 2: 121-135.
Pallas, S.L. S.M. Gilmour and B.L. Finlay (1988) Control of cell number in the developing neocortex: I. Effects of early tectal ablation. Devel. Brain Res. 43: 1-11.
Pallas, S.L. and R.R. Hoy (1986) Regeneration of normal afferent input does not eliminate aberrant synaptic connections of an identified auditory interneuron in the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. J. Comp. Neurol. 248: 348-359.
Pallas, S.L. and C.D. Drewes (1980) The rapid tail flattening component of MGF-mediated escape behavior in the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris L. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A 70: 57-64.
Drewes, C.D., J.L. McFall, E.P. Vining and S.L. Pallas (1980) Longitudinal variations in MGF-mediated giant motor neuron activity and rapid escape shortening in intact earthworms. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A 67: 659-665.
INVITED REVIEWS
Pallas,
S.L. (2006)
Compensatory innervation in development
and evolution. In J. Kaas
(ed.), Evolution of Nervous Systems, Vol 1, G.F. Striedter and J.L. R. Rubenstein (eds.): History of Ideas,
Basic Concepts and Developmental Mechanisms, pp 153-168. Academic Press,
Pallas, S.L., P. Wenner, C. Gonzalez-Islas, M. Fagiolini, K. Razak, G. Kim, D. Sanes, and B. Roerig (2006) Developmental plasticity of inhibitory circuitry. J. Neurosci. 26 (41): 10358-10361.
Pallas,
S.L., M. Xu, and K.A. Razak (2006)
Influence of thalamocortical activity on
sensory cortical development and plasticity.
In: R. Erzurumlu, W. Guido, Z. Molnar, (eds.)
Development and Plasticity in Sensory Thalamus and Cortex, pp 120-137. Kluwer Academic/
Plenum Publishers,
Pallas,
S.L. (2005) Pre- and postnatal sensory experience shapes brain
connectivity. In: Advances in Infancy Research. B.
Hopkins and S.P. Johnson (eds.). Praeger
Publishers,
Pallas,
S.L. (2002) Cross-modal plasticity as a tool for understanding
ontogeny and phylogeny of cerebral cortex. Chapter 12 in A. Shüz and R. Miller (eds.), Cortical Areas: Unity and
Diversity,. Harwood Academic Publishers,
Pallas, S.L. (2001) Cortical specification makes sense. Invited peer commentary on Thomas A. Stoffregen and Benoit G. Bardy, On specification and the senses, Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24: 213-261.
Pallas, S.L. (2001) Intrinsic and extrinsic factors shaping cortical identity. Trends in Neurosciences 24 (7): 417-423.
Pallas, S.L. (2001) Specification of mammalian neocortex: The power of the evo-devo approach in resolving the Nature-Nurture dichotomy. Invited peer commentary on M.A. Kingsbury and B.L. Finlay, The cortex in multidimensional space: where do cortical areas come from? Developmental Science 4(2): 148-150.
Pallas, S.L., L.A. Carman and M. Sur (1992) Generality of cortical processing units in sensory cortex: An in vivo developmental study. In: Analysis and Modeling of Neural Systems II, F. Eeckman, ed., Kluwer Acad. Publ., Norwell, MA, pp. 167-178.
Sur, M., S.L. Pallas and A.W. Roe (1990) Cross-modal plasticity in cortical development: Differentiation and specification of sensory neocortex. Trends in Neurosci. 13: 227-233.
Pallas, S.L. (1990) Cross-modal plasticity in sensory cortex: Visual responses in primary auditory cortex in ferrets with induced retinal projections to the medial geniculate nucleus. In: The Neocortex: Ontogeny and Phylogeny, B.L. Finlay, G. Innocenti, and H. Scheich, eds., NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Plenum, NY pp. 205-218.
Finlay, B.L. and S.L. Pallas (1989) Control of cell number in the developing visual system. Progress in Neurobiology 32: 207-234.
RECENT ABSTRACTS
Pallas, S.L. and P.Wenner
(2006) Minisymposium: Developmental plasticity of
inhibitory circuitry. Program No. 204.1
Neuroscience Meeting Planner.
Xu, M. and S.L. Pallas (2005) Molecular patterning is altered in cross-modal plasticity. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 31: 140.19.
Carrasco, M.M., K.A. Razak, and S.L. Pallas (2005) Early but not late light exposure protects against the effects of adult visual deprivation on the superior colliculus. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 31: 714.13.
Tadesse, T.T., M.M. Xu, L.J. Young, DJ Baro, and S.L. Pallas (2004) Ephrin-A gradients are steeper in compressed retinocollicular maps. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. -30: 839.10.
M.M. Carrasco, K.A. Razak, and S.L. Pallas (2003) Effects of dark-rearing on retinocollicular map refinement. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 29: 37.23
Razak. K. A. and S.L. Pallas (2003) Plasticity in inhibitory circuitry maintains velocity tuning of superior collicular neurons under NMDA receptor blockade. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 29: 37.24
M. Xu, D.J. Baro, and S.L. Pallas (2003) A quantitative study of gene expression topography in visual and auditory cortex during thalamocortical development in postnatal ferrets. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 29: 673.7.
Pallas, S.L., K.A. Razak, and D.R. Moore (2002) Cross-modal projections from LGN to primary auditory cortex following perinatal cochlear ablation in ferrets. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 28: 220.8.
Razak, K.A., L. Huang, and S.L. Pallas (2002) Early NMDA receptor blockade in the superior colliculus alters surround suppression but not stimulus size or velocity tuning. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 28: 331.4.
Moerschel, D.J. and S.L. Pallas (2001) Early postnatal formation of clustered horizontal connections in ferret auditory cortex. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 27: 903.8
Gao, W.-J., J.L. Power, V. Misra and S.L. Pallas (2000) Cross-modal alteration of inhibitory circuitry in primary auditory cortex. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 26:1608.
Pallas, S.L. and D.R. Moore (1997) Retinal axons arborize in the medial geniculate nucleus of neonatally-deafened ferrets. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 23: 1997.
BOOK REVIEWS
Pallas, S.L. (1994) Review of: The Merging of the Senses, by B. Stein and M.A.
Meredith, MIT Press, 1993, in Trends in Neurosciences 17:42-43.
MANUSCRIPTS SUBMITTED OR IN PREPARATION
Available on request
GRANT SUPPORT
Available on request
REFERENCES
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Last modified 8/29/2007