Neuroengineering Seed Grants

Posted on by

Neuroengineering is the combination of fields of neurosciences and engineering. It includes the development of devices or methodology to monitor brain activity as well as therapeutic devices that help overcome neurological conditions. It could also encompass new means of utilizing the brain’s activity.

Goal: Initiate new collaborative work in Neuroengineering. The proposal should lead towards new external funding in the field of neuroengineering.

Award Amounts: $10,000 – $30,000. Anticipated total funding, $100,000. Funds can be used for anything except faculty teaching buyout. Funds are awarded only to UMass Amherst faculty members. Continue reading →

IONs Director’s Channel – Jan 2019

Posted on by

Neuroscience is booming at UMass Amherst.  2018 was a great year and I am very excited about everything that we have coming up for 2019 including Seed Grants, Faculty Forums, a Distinguished Lecture Series and a Neuroscience conference on neuroengineering.

In this past year, we hired SIX new faculty members in neuroscience in four different departments. It is worth remarking that they are all women! Five are assistant professors: Karine Fenelon and Stephanie Padilla in Biology, Changhui Pak in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bruna Martins in Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Jennifer Mack in Communication Disorders. The latest addition to our Neurosciences faculty is a senior hire, Sarah Pallas in Biology.

Continue reading →

UMass Neuroscience Publications – Dec. 2018

Posted on by

What’s new for ‘”university of Massachusetts” AND amherst AND neuroscience’ in PubMed.

  • Beery AK. Inclusion of females does not increase variability in rodent research studies. Curr Opin Behav Sci. 2018 Oct;23:143-149. doi: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.06.016. Epub 2018 Aug 2. PubMed PMID: 30560152; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6294461.
  • Goodwin NL, Lopez SA, Lee NS, Beery AK. Comparative role of reward in long-term peer and mate relationships in voles. Horm Behav. 2018 Dec 7. pii: S0018-506X(18)30330-1. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.10.012. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30528833.
  • Chen XJ, Liu LL, Wang Y, Yang TX, Huang J, Li K, Zeng YW, Cheung EFC, Shum DHK, van Amelsvoort T, Chan RCK. Neural correlates of the effect of implementation intention on prospective memory. Psych J. 2018 Dec 5. doi: 10.1002/pchj.257. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30520271.
  • Mantua J, Grillakis A, Mahfouz SH, Taylor MR, Brager AJ, Yarnell AM, Balkin TJ, Capaldi VF, Simonelli G. A systematic review and meta-analysis of sleep architecture and chronic traumatic brain injury. Sleep Med Rev. 2018 Oct;41:61-77. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2018.01.004. Epub 2018 Feb 2. Review. PubMed PMID: 29452727.
  • Doan SN, DeYoung G, Fuller-Rowell TE, Liu C, Meyer J. Investigating relations among stress, sleep and nail cortisol and DHEA. Stress. 2018 Mar;21(2):188-193. doi: 10.1080/10253890.2018.1429398. Epub 2018 Jan 26. PubMed PMID: 29373934.
  • Mott M, Luna VM, Park JY, Downes GB, Epley K, Ono F. Expressing acetylcholine receptors after innervation suppresses spontaneous vesicle release and causes muscle fatigue. Sci Rep. 2017 May 10;7(1):1674. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-01900-3. PubMed PMID: 28490756; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5431962.

Katz receives NIH BRAIN Iniative award

Posted on by

UMass Neurosciences Director, Paul Katz received a $3.5 Million grant from the NIH Brain Initiative to lead a team of researchers from four universities to study the brain of a nudibranch.  The grant is entitled “A 5-dimensional connectomics approach to the neural basis of behavior” because it examines the brain 3 dimensions of space and 2 dimensions of time: real time and developmental time.  Continue reading →

Sarah Pallas joins UMass Biology

Posted on by

Dr. Sarah Pallas recently accepted a position to join the Biology Department and the Neuroscience and Behavior graduate program at UMass. Dr. Pallas was previously at Georgia State University. Her research is aimed at understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying development and plasticity of sensory pathways in the brain. Dr. Pallas is the 6th recent hire into the growing Neurosciences community at UMass.

Five new assistant professors join the Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program

Posted on by

The Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program welcomes five new Assistant Professors. They epitomize the diversity of backgrounds and approaches in the Neurosciences. Two of the faculty members are in Biology, one in Psychological Brain Sciences, one in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and one in Communication Disorders. Each of them is recruiting PhD students for the coming year.

Continue reading →

IONs Director’s Channel – Memory is about the future, not the past.

Posted on by

–Paul S. Katz
Director of Neurosciences

The UMass Week of Memory and Forgetting has provided me with fresh ideas about the nature of memory and the nature of society itself. It was fitting to begin the week with a reception at the Institute of Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies that featured an address from the Chancellor, who very movingly reflected on the recent mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, surrounded by pictures of atrocities committed by the Nazis. The Provost reflected on Psalm 137, popularly known through the reggae song, “By the Rivers of Babylon”, and the meaning of how collective memory affects us and how we, in turn, change the meaning of the memory over time. Each of the speakers brought a unique viewpoint on memory and its relevance for our lives. Continue reading →

Renovations of Neuroscience Wing of Morrill IV North Begin

Posted on by

Construction has begun on the 2nd floor of Morrill IV North to accommodate several neuroscience laboratories and faculty offices. This will create a new hub of neuroscience on campus and bring researchers closer together with other researchers in Morrill and the Life Science Laboratory. The lab space is designed in an open configuration with researchers sharing a series of research benches and having dedicated side rooms. Student desks are located at the ends of the lab. Hall ways are brightly colored. There will be a shared conference room, break room and computational facility. The space is slated to be completed Fall of 2019.