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Home > Research & Academics > Research Labs > Neuroscience

Neuroscience Lab

Director

Mr. Mark Hannum

 picture of President Obama visiting the Neuro lab

Founded

2007

Description

Neuroscience, as a field, is focused on understanding the brain, central nervous system, and how these amazingly complex systems develop.  Neuroscientists seek to understand the impact of the brain on behavior and cognitive functions, as well as the implications and causes of neurological, psychiatric, and neurodevelopmental disorders.  In its early days Neuroscience was considered a sub-discipline of Biology, however as the field has matured, it has become its own stand-alone interdisciplinary science that combines other disciplines such as mathematics, linguistics, engineering, computer science, chemistry, physics, and psychology.

The TJ Neuroscience lab focuses on three main areas of research: Behavioral Neuroscience, Computational Neuroscience with Brain Machine Interface, and Fundamental Neuroscience through electrophysiology.  Because of the wide interests of this lab (and the general interdisciplinary nature of Neuroscience) the lab attracts students with strong backgrounds in Biology, but also Computer Science, Mathematics, Electronics, and other Engineering fields.  There are pre-requisite tracks through all of these areas leading to becoming a member of the senior research lab. 

Projects
  • Opioid Receptor Antagonists on Voltage-Dependent Potassium Current
  • The effect of Cortisone on the Reaction Time of the Gill-Siphon Reflex of Aplysia californica
  • The Effect of Lipid Raft Degeneration on Long-Term Facilitation of Gill-Siphon Sensitization in Aplysia californica.
  • The Effect of β-amyloid Peptide on Classical Conditioning Efficacy of Aplysia californica as measured by electrophysiological response.
  • The Effect of Fluoxetine on the Risk-Related Phototaxis of Procambarus clarkia
  • Suppression of Spontaneous and Evoked signaling in Unmyelenated Ventral Nerve Cord of Periplaneta americana by Kilohertz Current
  • The Effects of Human Reticulon-4 on the Regeneration of Leech Centeral Nerve Cords after Crush Damage
  • Creating a Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Sensor for the Detection of Oxidative Stress in Neurons
  • Suppressing Complex Collective Behavior in a Network of Theta Neurons by Synaptic Diversity
  • The Development of a Support Vector Machine Classifier for Signal Processing of Human Brain Signals
  • Multidirectional Wheelchair Control via μ – Rhythm Acquisition through Electroencephalography Based Brain Computer Interface

Specialized
Equipment
  • Electroencephalography (EEG) picture of students in neuro lab
  • Micro-Electrode Array (MEA)
  • Cell Culture
  • Extracellular and Intercellular Electrophysiology
  • Fluorescence Microscope
  • High Power Computing Tools

Sponsors/
Contributors
  • Children’s National Medical Centerpicture of cocroach on paper
  • Georgetown University – Lombardy Cancer Center
  • George Mason University – Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study
  • George Mason University – Neural Engineering Laboratory
  • George Washington University
  • University of Maryland – College Park
  • National Institutes of Health – National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
  • Naval Research Laboratory

 

 

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