List of neuroscientists

Okihide Hikosaka investigates how neural circuits connect sensory information, expected reward and saccades. With Masayuki Matsumoto, he studied the lateral habenula and dopaminergic neurons while monkeys performed visually guided saccades. A 2007 experiment reversed which target position predicted reward; neural responses changed along with the reward contingency.^[ref]

The reversal distinguishes a response to a fixed location from a response associated with its learned outcome. Habenular excitation on unrewarded trials preceded inhibition of dopaminergic neurons, and weak electrical stimulation of the lateral habenula inhibited those neurons.^[ref] Recording and intervention address complementary questions: when does activity occur, and can changing the candidate circuit influence another population? The stimulation result alone does not identify every intervening synapse or establish a direct monosynaptic connection.

Masayuki Matsumoto studies neural signals associated with reward, learning and decision making. His 2007 study with Okihide Hikosaka compared responses in the lateral habenula and dopaminergic neurons during a rewarded saccade task. Reward-predicting and no-reward-predicting targets produced opposing response patterns in the two populations.^[ref]

A conceptual example explains the reversal control. Initially, suppose a left target predicts reward and a right target predicts no reward. Swap those outcomes while leaving the screen positions unchanged. A response that follows the newly unrewarded side cannot be explained solely by a permanent preference for rightward stimuli. The study observed response reversals when rewarded and unrewarded positions changed.^[ref]

This design separates spatial stimulation from the outcome associated with it. It also illustrates why a neural signal related to an adverse outcome should be described through the task and measured response, rather than treated as a complete measure of an animal's emotion.

S. H. DeVries investigated how parallel pathways in the retina extract different temporal components from a shared cone cell signal. In a 2000 study, simultaneous recordings from synaptically connected cone cells and OFF retinal bipolar cells linked distinct bipolar-cell types to different AMPA receptors or kainate receptors.^[ref]

The glutamate signal released by one cone cell can therefore enter several postsynaptic channels with different response dynamics. The study combined paired measurements with receptor-selective pharmacology in ground-squirrel retina, making it possible to compare the input and output at an identified connection.^[ref]

The motivating question is how the same changing light signal can support both a response to a rapid transition and a response to a more sustained change. Different receptor kinetics supply one experimentally testable part of that explanation. A common transmitter does not require identical temporal filtering in every receiving neuron; neither does a result in these cell types establish a universal receptor assignment across every species and retina.

Regina Faubel investigated how cilia organize cerebrospinal fluid transport in the brain. A 2016 study of the mouse third ventricle found coordinated cilia modules generating a complex network of local flows.^[ref]

The observed flow pattern included a periodically switching component, and related complex patterns occurred in rat and pig third ventricles. These results motivated a transport question beyond total flow through a cavity: which paths carry signaling molecules to particular parts of its lining? A compartment can exchange fluid overall while still having an organized internal distribution.^[ref]

Sandrine De Seranno investigated signalling between vascular endothelial cells and glial cells in the neuroendocrine brain. A 2004 study combined purified rat median eminence endothelial cells with cultured tanycytes, identifying nitric oxide-dependent changes in the actin cytoskeleton.^[ref]

Electron microscopy complemented the culture manipulation: stimulating endogenous nitric oxide release changed how glial endings and GnRH-containing axons approached the vascular surface. The work connected a diffusible signal with altered cellular geometry at a neurovascular interface.^[ref]

Lique M. Coolen investigates neural control of reproductive behavior. With William A. Truitt, she tested the role of a lumbar spinal cord neuron population in male rats. Selective destruction using SSP-saporin disrupted ejaculation while leaving other components of sexual behavior intact.^[ref]

The dissociation supported a specific contribution to coordinating ejaculation, rather than merely a general inability to move or mate. It did not establish that the targeted neurons act alone, or that the same manipulation has been demonstrated in humans.

William A. Truitt coauthored an experimental identification of spinal neurons important for ejaculation in male rats. With Lique M. Coolen, he used a toxin targeted to a receptor-bearing lumbar neuron population. Removing these cells disrupted ejaculation while sparing other observed sexual behaviors.^[ref]

The design goes beyond observing neurons active during a behavior: altering the population and measuring a selective behavioral loss tests its causal importance. The result supports a role in a spinal coordinating circuit, while leaving the circuit's other necessary components to be identified.

Dmitry Usoskin led a study using single-cell RNA sequencing to classify mouse sensory neurons. Analysis of 622 individual neurons distinguished eleven principal groups with different molecular and functional properties. Measuring each cell separately preserved differences that a pooled RNA sample would average together.^[ref]

The groups included neurons associated with mechanical sensation, body-position information, temperature, itch and damaging stimuli. Molecular clusters provide candidates for distinct cell types; their interpretation becomes stronger when combined with localization and functional experiments. The paper appeared online in 2014 and in the 2015 journal volume.

Ainhoa Etxeberria led experiments connecting visual experience to myelin geometry and neural conduction in mice. Long-term deprivation of input to one eye shortened myelinated segments along the visual pathway while increasing formation of oligodendrocytes. Electrophysiological measurements found altered optic nerve conduction.^[ref]

The experiment connects cellular structure with signal timing: counting axons or identifying myelin as merely present would miss differences in sheath spacing. It also shows why experience-dependent change need not be confined to changes at synapses.

Gary A. Banker coauthored work following the emergence of neuronal polarity in cultured hippocampal neurons. Sequential observations linked initially similar processes to distinct axon and dendrite outcomes. ^[ref] The culture model made cellular differentiation observable in the same cells through time, separating a developmental sequence from comparisons of unrelated endpoint images.

Christopher A. Sullivan coauthored the 1988 study of neuronal polarity in cultured hippocampal neurons. The work combined repeated observations with molecular identification of developing dendrites. ^[ref] It supplied a way to test when an apparently similar neuronal process acquires a distinct identity, rather than inferring its history solely from mature shape.

Carlos G. Dotti was first author of the 1988 study following axon and dendrite formation in cultured hippocampal neurons. ^[ref] The approach made a general cell-biological problem concrete: one cell develops compartments with different structures and functions. Following development in culture allowed temporal evidence to be combined with molecular markers of compartment identity.

A researcher who coauthored experiments activating learning-tagged neuronal ensembles under retrograde amnesia. Evoked fear-related behavior tested the distinction between failure of ordinary access and absence of every retained trace.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored hippocampal recordings during temporary retrosplenial cortex inactivation. Light and dark maze conditions helped test how connected cortical input contributes to spatial coding.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored simultaneous hippocampal and prefrontal recordings during a spatial-memory task. Task-dependent theta oscillation coupling linked interactions between regions with behavioral performance.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored experiments on a mutation implicated in human speech deficits using a mouse model. Measures of synaptic plasticity and motor learning connected a genetic alteration with specified cellular and behavioral outcomes.^[ref]

A neuroscientist whose longitudinal investigations of Henry Molaison included motor-skill learning despite severe amnesia.

A neuroscientist investigating fear learning and extinction.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored experiments in which social observation induced placebo analgesia. The design tested how another person’s apparent treatment experience can alter later pain responses.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored experiments varying treatment expectation during drug exposure. Separating expectation from administration helped test how a psychological context changes the measured response to the same pharmacological intervention.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored experiments on incentive effects after prior amphetamine exposure. Comparing cue-triggered motivation with other reward measurements helped distinguish wanting-related responses from hedonic impact.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored experiments on ligand distribution and activation of engineered receptors. The results connected effects attributed to a chemogenetic ligand with its conversion to clozapine, making pharmacokinetics part of the causal interpretation.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored lesion, recording and stimulation studies of the conditioned eyelid response in rabbits. Combining interventions and neural measurements tested a contribution of cerebellar circuits to learned responding.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored sensory-preconditioning experiments with reversible orbitofrontal cortex inactivation. Comparing inferred and previously learned values tested a specific contribution of the region to choice and learning.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored comparisons of dopamine-neuron spiking with dopamine release during behavior. Their different dynamics showed why electrical activity and local transmitter concentration need not be interchangeable readouts.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored cell-resolved calcium imaging of ventral tegmental dopamine neurons. Encoding analyses compared sensory, motor and cognitive variables, testing heterogeneity within a population often summarized by one reward signal.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored timed optogenetic inhibition of dopamine neurons in rats. The intervention tested whether brief reductions in activity could produce learning effects resembling negative reward-prediction errors.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored circuit interventions and recordings connecting serotonin with fear-related behavior in mice. The identified extended-amygdala pathway illustrated why a transmitter cannot be assigned one context-free emotional effect.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored timed activation of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons during waiting for reward. Separating intervention timing and behavioral conditions tested a contribution to persistence while waiting.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored selective prefrontal serotonin-depletion experiments in marmosets. Reversal-learning measures tested cognitive flexibility under a specified perturbation rather than equating every serotonergic effect with the same behavioral mechanism.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored conditional genetic-rescue experiments on a serotonin receptor. Developmental timing of rescue helped distinguish establishment of adult anxiety-like behavior from an acute effect of receptor activity.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored a randomized pharmacological imaging study relating frontal learning responses to effects of ketamine. The design connected individual task responses with vulnerability to a controlled perturbation.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored comparisons of pharmacological interventions in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and central nucleus of the amygdala. Different startle conditions tested a functional dissociation rather than assigning all fear to one structure.^[ref]

A neuroscientist who tested developmental psychological stress-inoculation hypotheses in randomized primate research.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored color-discrimination experiments with Russian and English speakers. Comparing verbal and spatial interference tested how language-related processing contributes to performance on a simultaneous visual task.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored maps of human photoreceptor topography. Measuring receptor distributions connected retinal structure with variation across visual locations instead of assuming a spatially uniform sampling array.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored prolonged colored-filter exposure experiments on adult color perception. Persistence of shifted color judgments after exposure supplied evidence for adaptation beyond the immediate optical change.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored single-photoreceptor current measurements in monkey cones. Recording responses to light connected phototransduction dynamics with adaptation while distinguishing adaptation from pigment bleaching.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored null-plane measurements of chromatic mechanisms in the macaque lateral geniculate nucleus. Controlled display stimuli tested combinations of cone-related signals rather than treating color sensitivity as a single scalar response.^[ref]

A researcher who mapped cone-selective inputs to neurons in macaque primary visual cortex. Spatially targeted stimuli distinguished receptive-field organization from a simple statement that a cell responds to color.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored physiological and morphological identification of a blue-on opponent retinal pathway. Combining cellular shape with responses connected a particular ganglion-cell class to a measured color signal.^[ref]

A researcher whose work concerns developmental fear learning.^[ref]

A neuroscientist whose research includes ripple-associated neural activity and memory-guided behaviour.^[ref]

A neuroscientist whose research includes hippocampal ensemble sequences and goal-directed navigation.^[ref]

A neuroscientist whose research includes time-dependent neural representations during object recognition.^[ref]

A neuroscientist whose research includes unsupervised models of visual cortical representations.^[ref]

A neuroscientist whose research includes visual models and cortical representational geometry.^[ref]

A neuroscientist whose research includes task-optimized models of sensory representations.^[ref]

A neuroscientist whose research includes memory schemas and consolidation.^[ref]

A researcher who coauthored imaging experiments comparing taste, retronasal odor and their combinations. Ratings of flavor relationships and pleasantness helped distinguish sensory convergence from a single universal flavor center.^[ref]