Brain development and plasticity
The study of the brain is known as neuroscience, a field of biology aimed at understanding the functions of the brain at every level, from the molecular up to the psychological, and how it develops and changes across the life span. There is also a branch of psychology that deals with the anatomy and physiology of the brain, known as biological psychology. This field of study focuses on each individual part of the brain and how it assesses different parts of the body.
Plasticity refers to how circuits in the brain change--organize and reorganize--in response to experience, or sensory stimulation. Periods of rapid change or plasticity occur in the brain under four main conditions: when the immature brain first begins to process sensory information (developmental plasticity); second, when changes in the body, like a problem with eyesight, alter the balance of sensory activity received by the brain (activity-dependent plasticity); third, when we alter our behavior based on new sensory information (plasticity of learning and memory), and fourth, following damage to the brain (injury-induced plasticity). Scientists believe that the same brain mechanisms underlie all four types of plasticity: adjustments in the strength of connections, or synapses, between brain cells. The details of the molecular control of synaptic modification is an extraordinarily active field of research. Understanding the mechanisms of brain plasticity is essential to developing interventions to overcome brain damage.
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Adam Anderson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology & Radiological Sciences
Malcolm Avison, Ph.D.
Professor of Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Neurology, and Pharmacology
Kendal Broadie, Ph.D.
Stevenson Professor of Neurobiology; Professor of Biological Sciences; Professor of Pharmacology; Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Stephen Bruehl, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Bruce Carter, Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry
Chin Chiang, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Roger Colbran, Ph.D.
Louise B. McGavock Chair and Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
P. Jeffrey Conn, Ph.D.
Lee E. Limbird Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology; Director Emeritus, Vanderbilt Program in Drug Discovery
Michael K. Cooper, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Eric Delpire, Ph.D.
Professor of Anesthesiology; Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Ariel Deutch, Ph.D.
James G. Blakemore Chair and Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Emeritus; Professor of Pharmacology Emeritus; Neurochemistry Faculty Service Coordinator, IDDRC Neuroscience Core D
Ford Ebner, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Cell & Developmental Biology
Ronald Emeson, Ph.D.
Joel G. Hardman & Mary K. Parr Endowed Professor of Pharmacology; Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Professor of Biochemistry and Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences; Director, IDDRC Neuroscience Core D; Chair, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee; Associate Director, Vanderbilt Brain Institute
John Gore, Ph.D.
Hertha Ramsey Cress Chair in Medicine; Chancellor's University Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering; Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics; Professor of Physics; Director, Institute of Imaging Science
Brad Grueter, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Kevin Haas, Ph.D., M.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Troy Hackett, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Hearing and Speech Sciences
Fiona Harrison, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine; Director, IDDRC Behavioral Phenotyping Core (Core D); Mouse Behavioral Phenotyping Faculty Coordinator, IDDRC Core D
Stephan Heckers, M.D.
William P. and Henry B. Test Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Chair of the Department
Carl H Johnson, Ph.D.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair and Professor of Biological Sciences; Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Jon Kaas, Ph.D.
Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair and Distinguished Centennial Professor of Psychology; Professor of Radiology& Radiological Sciences
Jing-Qiong Kang, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Ela Knapik, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine; Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Christine Konradi, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Andre H. Lagrange, Ph.D., M.D.
Associate Professor of Neurology
Peter Martin, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Pharmacology; Director, Vanderbilt Addiction Center
Robert Matthews, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics; Advanced Microscopy Core Manager, Basic Neuroscience Services Core
Douglas McMahon, Ph.D.
Stevenson Chair and Professor of Biological Sciences; Professor of Pharmacology
David M. Miller III, Ph.D.
Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology & Biological Sciences, Emeritus
Victoria Morgan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Radiology & Radiological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering
M. Diana Neely, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Aurea Pimenta, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
Elaine Sanders-Bush, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology, Professor of Psychiatry, Emerita
Michelle Southard-Smith, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine; Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Mark Wallace, Ph.D.
Louise B. McGavock Endowed Chair; Professor of Hearing & Speech Sciences, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and Psychology; Director, IDDRC Behavioral Phenotyping Core (Core D)
Eric Wilkey, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Human Development
Tiffany Woynaroski, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Assistant Professor of Hearing & Speech Sciences
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