Considerable progress was made in the first year of the no cost extension in publications that built on the grants 5 years of studying diverse hindbrain circuits and behaviors controlling eye movements, locomotion, swimming and vocalization in fish (see Publications). There were three major ongoing projects that likely would have been completed experimentally if not for Hurricaine Sandy and the closure of offices, laboratories and zebrafish facility. First, our extensive observations on the Hox 3 paralogs testing neuronal pleiotropism and modularity for horizontal and vertical eye movements were presented in a Nat Comm manuscript challenging current Hox gene dogma (currently in preparation for reviewer rebuttal) but the experimental work necessary for the rebuttal have been curtailed. Second, the role of neuronal excitability and/or endothelial vascularization along with circulation during the development of neurons, pathways and function was in the midst of being rigorously tested in motor behaviors that can be measured with high-resolution. Third, the ability to assign an exact role for an individual hox gene in determining the structure/function of a given neuronal phenotype was being assessed with corroborative behavioral and multiphoton calcium signaling. Each of these three major projects is summarized below along with their plans for completion.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 22 publications
