Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences - Neuroscience and Physiology

A central goal of life sciences research has been to understand how complex tissues and their substituent cells develop, function, and regenerate. Recent years have brought enormous advances in our ability to experimentally manipulate gene expression in cells, embryos, and tissues, and to analyze subtle and complex phenotypes using advanced imaging technologies.The Neuroscience and Physiology Research Area brings together laboratories employing these technological advances to study the development, structure, function, and regeneration of the nervous system, as well as the functional and mechanistic basis of a broad range of fundamental behaviors such as vision, hearing, movement, learning, and social interactions in a wide variety of taxa.Our members bring the tools of molecular and cellular biology, advanced light microscopy, electrophysiology, transgenesis, mutagenesis, experimental embryology, behavior assessment and analysis to bear on these problems.We combine these tools with the power of several model systems including zebrafish, mouse, rat, Drosophila, and Aplysia.In addition to studying the development and function of the nervous system, several groups also investigate neurological disorders, including blindness, deafness, neurodegenerative diseases, autism and musculoskeletal disorders.One of the strengths of our group is the multiple approaches and techniques used to answer important questions at the genetic, cellular, physiological, and organismal levels.