The Laboratory of James W. Gnadt, PhD Personnel & Collegues Shao-Ming Lu, PhD - Sr. Research Assoc. Boris Breznen, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow Mark Jackson, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow Eion Ramcharan, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow Michele Basso, PhD - Graduate Fellow Oleg Litvak, MS - Graduate Fellow Victor Henriquez - Graduate Fellow Janine Beyer - Res. Support Specialist Michele Fucito - Res. Support Specialist Lynne Corrigan - Histology Technician Chris Fanning - Computer Engineer Honglei Zhang - Programmer The research interests in my lab centers around investigation of the neuro-physiological basis of behavior. We use several experimental techniques, including behavioral studies, in vivo and in vitro neurophysiology, neuroanatomy and numerical modeling. We investigate oculomotor behavior as an “ideal” model system for study. In one set of experiments, we are studying the cellular and circuit mechanism for generating saccadic eye movements, the high-velocity eye flicks that one uses to scan the environment. The brain circuit that generates saccadic behavior is essentially a biologic machine that acts like a central pattern generator, a closed-loop neural circuit that creates a stereotyped motor output in response to inputs from higher centers. Like any machine, one can attempt to understand how it works by “reverse engineering.” That is, given the machine’s output, how do the internal circuits function to produce that output? One systems engineering approach is to inject characteristic input signals at critical points within the circuit and compare the output to quantitative predictions based on assumptions about the biological mechanisms. Using this approach, we have addressed several fundamental issues in oculomotor physiology, which in turn reveals brain mechanisms that are general to all behavior. In another set of experiments we are using anatomical tracing techniques to reveal the “wiring diagram” of a part of the circuit that connects supra-modal neurons related to volitional planning in the parietal cortex to a systematic neural map of gaze control in the superior colliculus of the midbrain. We also collaborate with other colleagues in the study of the visual system and the blink reflex.
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