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Research
Developmental
Plasticity of the Retinocollicular Projection
Using the retinocollicular system, we create a mismatch between the retina
and the superior colliculus (SC) at birth by removing part of the SC. The retina then makes a complete but compressed visual
map in the SC fragment. Despite the smaller
target, the properties of the SC neurons remain unchanged.
This remarkable conservation of function suggests to us that the
mapping of the retina onto the SC and the functional development of
individual target cells are controlled in concert. We
are currently investigating the molecular mechanism underlying this
process, which is likely to be of general importance in brain development
and plasticity. This work has been funded by the
NIH.
Cross-Modal
Plasticity of the Retinogeniculocortical System
Using the retinogeniculocortical system, we are
investigating the consequences of changing the modality of sensory inputs
to central brain structures. The retina can be
induced to innervate the central auditory system early in development. This allows us to define the role of sensory input
modality in the development and evolution of specific cortical circuitry. Earlier work showed that rerouting the retina to the
auditory system results in an orderly map of visual space in the auditory
cortex, and that visual information can be processed by auditory cortex in
much the same way as in visual cortex. Our working
hypothesis is that the sensory inputs can direct the formation of cortical
circuitry. We have now shown that the early visual
experience actively alters the intrinsic and extrinsic connections of
auditory cortex, and also alters the inhibitory circuitry.
We are now investigating the nature of these
changes and whether they are responsible for creating visual response
properties in auditory cortex. We are also interested in the
molecular mechanisms underlying specification of sensory cortex and the
guidance of thalamocortical axons. This work has been funded by the
NSF, Whitehall Foundation, Fight for Sight, and
the Deafness Foundation.
Books:
Pallas,
S.L., editor (2010) Developmental Plasticity of Inhibitory
Circuitry. Springer-Verlag, New York. (link to Amazon.com)
Invited
Reviews:
Pallas,
S.L., and Y.-T. Mao (accepted) Development and
evolution of multisensory processing.
In: Barry E. Stein (editor)
New Handbook of Multisensory Processes.
MIT Press Cambridge,
MA.
Kral, A. and S.L. Pallas (2011) Development of the auditory
forebrain. In: J.A. Winer and C.E. Schreiner (eds.) The Auditory
Cortex. Springer, New York.
Razak, K. A., Z.M. Fuzessery, and S.L. Pallas (2009)
Developmental plasticity of inhibitory receptive field properties in the
auditory and visual systems. In: Pallas, S.L. (editor) Developmental plasticity of
inhibitory circuitry. Springer-Verlag,
New York.
Pallas,
S.L. (2007)
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.): Theories,
Development, and Invertebrates, pp 153-168.
Elsevier Academic Press, Amsterdam.
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. (click for pdf)
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, and Z. Molnar (eds.) Development
and Plasticity in Sensory Thalamus and Cortex. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York. (click for pdf)
Pallas,
S.L. (2005) Pre- and postnatal sensory experience shapes functional
architecture in the brain. Chapter 1 in B. Hopkins
& S.P. Johnson (Eds.): Prenatal Development of Postnatal Functions. Advances in
Infancy Research, Volume 14. Praeger , Westport
, CT , pp. 1-30.
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, London. Conceptual Advances in Brain Research 5: 245-272.
Pallas,
S.L. (2001) Intrinsic and extrinsic factors shaping cortical identity. Trends in
Neurosciences 24 (7): 417-423. (click for pdf)
Selected
Publications:
Mao,
Y.-T, T.-M. Hua, S.L. Pallas (2011) Ectopic visual
inputs alter the spatial distribution of auditory and visual responses in
auditory cortex. J.
Neurophysiol., in press. (click for
pdf)
Carrasco,
M.M., Y.-T. Mao, T. Balmer,
S.L. Pallas (online 2010, print 2011)
Inhibitory plasticity underlies visual deprivation-induced loss of
retinocollicular map refinement in adulthood. Eur J Neurosci
33:58-68. (click for pdf)
Razak, K.A. and 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. (click for pdf)
Carrasco,
M.M. and S.L. Pallas (2006) Early visual experience prevents but cannot
reverse deprivation-induced loss of refinement in adulthood. Visual
Neuroscience, 23(6): 845-852. (click for pdf)
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 . (click for pdf)
Razak , K. A. and S.L. Pallas ( 2005) Neural mechanisms of
stimulus velocity tuning in the superior colliculus. J. Neurophysiol. 94(5):3573-3589. (click for pdf)
Carson , J.P., T. Ju
, H.-C. Lu, C. Thaller ,
M. Xu , S.L. Pallas, M.C. Crair
, J. Warren, W. Chiu, and G. Eichele (2005)
A digital atlas to characterize the mouse brain transcriptome
. PLOS Computational Biology 1(4):
e41. (click for pdf)
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. (click for pdf)
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. (click for pdf)
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. (click for pdf)
Gao , W.-J., A. Wormington , D. 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. (click for pdf)
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. (click for pdf)
To see a
complete c.v., click here
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