Donald S. Faber

Chairman, Department of Neuroscience

Professor
Functional organization and adaptive properties of central synapses; mechanisms of action of neuromodulators; neural correlates of sensorimotor behavior and its plasticity.

Kennedy Center
Room 429
(718) 430-2511

 

Cellular Correlates of Sensorimotor Function—From Synapses to Behavior

Our research activities focus on basic mechanisms of synaptic transmission in the central nervous system and the functional organization of neural networks, in the context of the behavior they mediate. For this purpose we focus on a vertebrate escape behavior that can be studied with behavioral and electrophysiological techniques. The escape is mediated by an identified central neuron, the teleost Mauthner cell, and the major components of both the afferent sensory system and the motor output pathways are accessible for these studies. Questions asked at the systems level are concerned with the decision making process and its modifications by experience and the local environment. Studies at the cellular level are concerned with the basic properties of central synapses, the fundamental units of information processing in the brain. Both the release of neurotransmitter and the responsiveness of the postsynaptic cell to that transmitter can be modified by patterns of activity or by endogenous modulators, and these processes underlie adaptive changes in behavior. This plasticity may involve short- or long-term modifications in the function and/or structure of synapses.

The laboratory uses a number of experimental models, including identified neurons in the goldfish midbrain studied in vivo and in vitro brain slices, to investigate mechanisms of synaptic transmission and its plasticity. Intracellular and patch clamp techniques are used to record responses of single neurons to presynaptic stimulations, and dye injections and immunocytochemistry reveal the structural properties of the synapses being investigated. We also study behaviors evoked by complex auditory and visual stimuli, with chronic electrophysiological recordings and high-speed kinematics, to correlate synaptic activity and its modifications with functional changes in neuronal networks.

 

Selected Publications

Szabo, T.M., Weiss, S.A., Faber, D.S. and Preuss, T. Representation of auditory signals in the M-cell:role of electrical synapses. J Neurophysiol. 95: 2617-2629, 2006.

Preuss, T., Osei-Bonsu, P.E, Weiss, S.A., Wang C. and Faber, D.S. Neural representation of object approach in as decision-making motor circuit. J. Neurosci. 26:3454-3464, 2006.

Korn, H., Faber, D.S. The Mauthner cell half a century later: a neurobiological model for decision-making? Neuron. 47: 13-28, 2005.

Neumeister, H., Cellucci, C.J., Rapp, P.E., Korn, H. and Faber, D.S. Dynamical analysis reveals individuality of locomotion in goldfish. J Exp Biol. 207: 697-708, 2004.

Preuss, T. and Faber, D.S. Central cellular mechanisms underlying temperature-dependent changes in the goldfish startle-escape behavior. J Neurosci. 23: 5617-26, 2003.

Lin, J.W. and Faber, D.S. Modulation of synaptic delay during synaptic plasticity. Trends Neurosci. 25: 449-55, 2002.

Waldeck, R., Pereda, A., and Faber, D.S. Properties and Plasticity of Paired-Pulse Depression at a Central Synapse. J. Neurosci. 20: 5312-5320, 2000.

Kumar, S.S. and Faber, D.S. Plasticity of first order sensory synapses: Interactions between homosynaptic LTP and heterosynaptically evoked dopaminergic potentiation. J. Neurosci. 19:1620-1635, 1999.

Pereda, A., Bell, T., Chang B., Czernik, A., Nairn, A., Soderling, T., and Faber, D.S. CaM-KII mediates synaptically-induced enhancement of gap junctional conductance and glutamatergic transmission. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 95:13272-13277, 1998.
Central Synapses: Quantal Mechanisms and Plasticity. Eds.

Faber, D.S. , Korn, H., Redman, S.J., Thompson, S.M. and Altman, J.S. Human Frontiers Science Program, Workshop IV, Strasbourg, 1998.

 Kruk, P.J., Korn, H., and Faber, D.S. The effects of geometrical parameters on synaptic transmission: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Biophys J. 73:2874-2890, 1997.