![How the brain drives adaptive behavior]()
When we react to sensory stimuli, our brains tap into a network of neurons that drives behavior. But little is understood about that network’s architecture, the contributions of its individual cells nor how the network changes with learning. Jose Luis Peña, M.D., Ph.D., has been awarded a five-year $3-million NIH BRAIN Initiative grant to investigate how neural networks become fine-tuned to their environment and adapt through exposure to life experiences. The research will involve barn owls, which are keenly attuned to relying on sound for locating prey. Dr. Pena and colleagues from Seattle University, University of California in Davis and San Diego will use high-throughput electrophysiology, electron microscopy, behavior and theory to determine how sound drives the owl's orienting behavior. Dr. Peña is a professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience. (1R01NS104911-01)
Posted on: Monday, November 27, 2017