The assembly of neural circuits in the developing brain and the formation and storage of memories in the adult nervous system reflect two extraordinary examples of neuronal plasticity which, in a broad sense, serve a common purpose: they endow the nervous system with lasting changes in its functional architecture through ongoing refinement of the connections among nerve cells. This functional similarity raises the theoretically important issue of whether development and learning are fundamentally related in terms of their underlying mechanisms.
While attractive in concept, directly testing this theory is challenging. Thus there is excitement about recent developments in our research program in which it is directly shown that "growth factors", known to play critical roles in the development of the brain, also play a fundamental role in memory formation. Specifically, a simple model system, the marine mollusk Aplysia, will be used because it has a numerically simple nervous system composed of giant neurons (in some cases a hundred times larger than the nerve cells of humans). This project will study changes in the connections between these neurons that occur during simple forms of learning, and then examine the molecular events that give rise to those changes. Using the new discovery about the roles that growth factors can play in adult learning, it is expected that some of the changes that are seen will be similar to those that occur during the development of the brain. Thus these results could open the door to explicit examination of the relationship between development and learning in this powerful experimental system. Broader impact are apparent in that this project will be instrumental for integrating both research and education by serving as an incubator for future scientists and engineers. Additionally, the PI serves as a mentor in the Minority Neuroscience Fellowship Program and actively recruits students to work in his lab. Beyond the traditional mechanisms for disseminating scientific information the PI has developed a website full of information that is available to both students and interested laypersons.
