The featured researcher is Dr. Courtney Babbitt, who is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department and the Commonwealth Honors College. Her lab studies evolutionary genomics. One of the things that they are looking at how changes in gene regulation played a role in the evolution of the human brain.They published several papers recently on this topic. One in Brain, Behavior, and Evolution is a review titled “Exploring the Expanded Role of Astrocytes in Primate Brain Evolution via Changes in Gene Expression“. Another, “Ecological Trait Differences Are Associated with Gene Expression in the Primary Visual Cortex of Primates” was published in the journal Genes. A preprint of a third paper, available on BioRxiv examines change in gene expression in regions of the cerebellum of primates, specifically related that to uniquely human behaviors.

Here’s what else is new for ‘ ”University of Massachusetts” AND Amherst AND neuroscience’ in PubMed. These publications appeared online in April 2025. They are just a fraction of the neuroscience research that occurs on campus. You can click on the PubMed ID to find the publication.

On April 9, the UMass Initiative on Neurosciences (IONs) sponsored a conference for the western MA chapter of the Society for Neuroscience bringing together about 130 students, faculty, and research staff from across central and western Massachusetts. Attendees included people from UMass Amherst, UMass Chan Medical School (both Worcester and Baystate campuses), Holy Cross, Smith College, Amherst College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Mount Holyoke College, and Williams College. The Society for Neuroscience (SfN), a global organization of scientists and clinicians studying the brain and nervous system has more than 36,000 members in 95 countries. The Western MA chapter aims to foster unity and collaboration among students, faculty, and staff to advance neuroscience education, research, and dissemination. It was reestablished in 2015. Currently, David Weaver is at the helm, serving as the western MA chapter representative. For more information, and to volunteer or nominate someone for one of the open officer positions, please email chapters@sfn.org and specify your interest in the western MA chapter. You can also visit the Facebook page HERE.

This month’s featured researcher is Sarah Pallas. Sarah is a Professor in the Biology Department. Her lab studies the development of neural circuit properties in the visual system of a variety of mammals. Her most recent paper, which was published in the Journal of Neurophysiology, was performed in collaboration with neuroscientists in Chile. It examines the development of the visual system in a South American rodent, the Degu (Octodon degus). This animal differs from standardly used laboratory rodents in that it is active during the day and has a well-developed visual system. This paper shows that neurons in the superior colliculus of degus have more complex receptive field properties than nocturnal rodents, suggesting that they would be a better model for the human visual system.

Here’s what else is new for ‘ ”University of Massachusetts” AND Amherst AND neuroscience’ in PubMed. These publications appeared online in winter 2024/25. They are just a fraction of the neuroscience research that occurs on campus. You can click on the PubMed ID to find the publication.

This month’s featured researcher is Jeff Podos. His lab studies bird communication in the lab and in the field. Together with graduate student, Katie Schroeder, he recently published a paper in Science Magazine titled, “Ecological speciation in Darwin’s finches: Ghosts of finches future“. Darwin’s finches are famous for the adaptations of their beaks to different foraging niches. Podos and Schroeder present a model that supports the idea that the acoustic structure of their songs were affected by ecological factors such as droughts. The model predicts speciation based on acoustic recognition of songs.

Here’s what else is new for ‘ ”University of Massachusetts” AND Amherst AND neuroscience’ in PubMed. These publications appeared online in September and October. They are just a fraction of the neuroscience research that occurs on campus. You can click on the PubMed ID to find the publication.

The featured researcher this month is Dominique Alfandari. Dom is a Professor of Developmental Biology in the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences. His lab studies the mechanisms underlying neural crest cell migration and differentiation. This has implications for facial development and cancer. This summer, he was an author on a paper published in the Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution, which reviews findings using the frog, Xenopus, to discover genes involved in congenital hearing loss syndromes such as branchio‐oto‐renal syndrome (BOR). Mutations that lead to this condition cause defects in features of the head and face as well as the kidney.

Here’s what else is new for ‘ ”University of Massachusetts” AND Amherst AND neuroscience’ in PubMed. These publications appeared online in May, June, July, and August. They are just a fraction of the neuroscience research that occurs on campus. You can click on the PubMed ID to find the publication.

Cana Park, who just joined the Biology Faculty, is the newest member of the neuroscience community at UMass. Cana (pronounced Kay-nuh) was a postdoc at UCSF, where she made a fundamental discovery about a factor secreted by platelets that slows cognitive decline associated with aging. She will be pursuing this line of research and ways to translate it into therapeutic treatments. Her lab is in the Life Sciences Laboratory and she is looking for students to join her.

The meetup scheduled for October 18, 2024 in the Marriott room at the Campus Center following the UMass Chan Medical School retreat is shaping up to be a lively event with trivia, 1 – minute data blitz, numerous networking opportunities, catering and refreshments, and an opportunity to share your research by presenting a poster. Registration is still open for poster presenting and we ask that you register in advance so that we can provide enough poster stands for all.

Below you’ll find some of the abstracts and/or titles of just some of the presenters already registered.

This month’s featured researcher is Luke Remage-Healey, who is a Professor in Psychological and Brain Sciences. His lab studies the behavior and neurophysiology underlying song learning in zebra finches. They recently published two papers. One in the journal Animal Behaviour, showed that viewing unfamiliar individuals of their own species, was a strong motivating stimulus for zebra finches. The other paper, which appeared in the journal eNeuro, showed the effects of intrinsic estrogrens on neurons in the bird’s brain that changed how the song was encoded.

Here’s what else is new for ‘ ”University of Massachusetts” AND Amherst AND neuroscience’ in PubMed. These publications appeared online in March. They are just a fraction of the neuroscience research that occurs on campus. You can click on the PubMed ID to find the publication.

This month’s featured researcher is Dr. Elena Vazey. Elena is an associate professor in the Department of Biology. Her lab studies the role of the locus coeruleus and norephinephrine on targets in the cerebral cortex. They are specifically interested in how changes in firing patterns of locus coeruleus neurons alter function of different cortical regions, and how this may impact cortical processing of incoming sensory information and responses to sensory cues. A recent paper from her lab, published in eLife. found sex differences in the modulation of premotor cortex to noradrenergic inputs that plays a role in decision-making by suppressing irrelevant information to enable efficient action planning and decision-making.

Here’s what else is new for ‘ ”University of Massachusetts” AND Amherst AND neuroscience’ in PubMed. These publications appeared online in December 2023 and January 2024. They are just a fraction of the neuroscience research that occurs on campus. You can click on the PubMed ID to find the publication.