Society for Neuroscience Chooses UW Project to Highlight Significant Research

Sept. 26, 2006 -- Isolated inside of an insulated, sound-proof room, a bat's brain responds to computer-generated sounds induced by a researcher outside the room.

University of Wyoming research scientist Khaleel A. Razak is studying the bat's neural responses to provide new insights into brain development, with implications for understanding how language develops.

Zoltan Fuzessery, professor in the UW Department of Zoology and Physiology and member of the Neuroscience faculty, directs Razak's research. Prior to joining Fuzessery’s lab, Razak studied the development of rodent visual systems as a post-doctoral scientist in Sarah Pallas' lab at Georgia State University.

Razak has been invited to present his research at a symposium titled, “Developmental Plasticity of Inhibitory Circuitry” during the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SFN). In addition, SFN has chosen Razak's abstract, co-written by Fuzessery and Pallas, from among thousands submitted, to be the subject of a national press release highlighting the importance and significance of neuroscience research. The release will be distributed to reporters and publications nationwide after it is presented at the SFN annual meeting next month in Atlanta, Ga.

"The selection of Khaleel's presentation for a national press release is quite an accomplishment," says Professor Bill Flynn, director of UW's Neuroscience Program. "This highlights the quality of neuroscience research here at UW."

The balance between excitatory and inhibitory neural inputs is of fundamental importance to brain function, Razak says. He says most studies of brain development have focused on excitatory neural inputs, while his studies focus on the developmental plasticity of inhibitory inputs relevant to natural stimuli.

Razak and other researchers in Fuzessery’s lab have designed experiments using  pallid bats as models to determine how the brain represents species-specific vocalizations. Additionally, they are studying how appropriate neural responses for vocalizations mature during normal development and following altered developmental experiences. The long-term objective is to determine the relative contributions of nature and nurture to the development of sensory systems.

"We are finding interesting parallels between the auditory and visual systems," Razak says. "We see a huge effect of developmental experience on inhibitory neural processing. Experience seems to have much more of an effect on inhibition than excitation."

He notes that abnormal inhibition is involved in diseases such as epilepsy, autism and schizophrenia. Abnormal inhibition also is critical in shaping response properties that influence language development.

“These studies will provide insight into critical abnormalities in vocalization processing that may underlie language deficits in humans,” Razak says. “Such basic research has implications for understanding brain development and determining how the brain controls behavior.”

He says the research demonstrates the importance of understanding both excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms before clinical interventions are considered for brain diseases or sensory deprivation.

Photo

Brain Studies -- University of Wyoming research scientist Khaleel A. Razak is studying the neural responses of a pallid bat to provide new insights into brain development, with implications for understanding how language develops. The Society for Neuroscience has chosen Razak's research, from among thousands of abstracts submitted, to be the subject of a national press release highlighting the importance and significance of neuroscience research. (UW Photo)

Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006