Research Interests
I am interested in the processes controlling the formation of central nervous system connections and their adaptive modification through experience. I am using the regeneration of the optic nerve as a model for analyzing the events that lead to reassembly of correctly functioning neural connections. One of the advantages of studying growth and targeting during regeneration in the adult is that the brain is large and its components are well defined, compared to the brain of the developing animal.
I am directing two projects at present. 1). I have discovered that the anomalous connection made in the amphibian olfactory cortex by regenerating optic nerve fibers when artificially diverted into the cerebral hemisphere emphasizes that part of the retina that images the frontal (binocular) region of the visual field. The part of retina that images the lateral (monocular) field is less well represented in this connection. I am investigating the possible role of positive reinforcements occurring during prey catching, a rewarding event strongly correlated with the frontal positioning of the prey-object, on the relative augmentation of the frontal-field connections. 2). In conjunction with my graduate assistant, Helene Bach, I am studying the role of the Eph/ephrin-A family of receptor tyrosine kinases in the regeneration of visual system connections. These developmentally regulated transmembrane proteins have been implicated in the guidance of optic fibers to their map-positions in the optic tectum/superior colliculus during development. Their expression patterns in the normal adult and during regeneration of the optic nerve will help determine whether the ephrins are needed for topographic map formation posstnatally.
Teaching Responsibilities
I am responsible for a sub-block covering the introductory anatomy and development of the human central nervous system in the Neuroscience block.
LABORATORY MEMBERS
Helene Bach, Graduate Assistant, Tel. 1019
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Scalia, F., Eisner, S., Galoyan, S. M., Harris, E., Su, W. and Lettvin, J. Y. A compartment-based asymmetric representation of the retina in an induced projection to the olfactory cortex. J. Comp. Neurol. 383:415-427, 1997.
Scalia, F., Galoyan, S. M., Eisner, S., Harris, E. and Su, W. Biotinylated dextran amine and biocytin hydrochloride are useful tracers for the study of retinal projections in the frog. J. Neurosci. Methods 76:167-175,
Shamim, K.M., Scalia, F., Toth, P. and Cook, J.E. Large retinal ganglion cells that form independent, regular mosaics in the ranid frogs Rana esculenta and Rana pipiens. Visual Neuroscience 14:1109-1127, 1997.
Scalia, F., Simai, D., Harris, B. and Eisner, S. Unequal representation of the temporal and nasal retina in an anomalous projection to the lateral thalamus. J. Comp. Neurol. 416:213-223, 2000.
Ludvig, N., Ngyuen, M.C., Botero, J.M., Tang, H.M., Scalia, F., Scharf, B.A. and Kral, J.G. Delivering drugs, via microdialysis, into the environment of extracellularly recorded hippocampal neurons in behaving primates. Brain Res. Protocols In press 2000.
Ludvig, N., Ngyuen, M.C., Botero, J.M., Tang, H.M., Scharf, B.A., Scalia, F. and Kral, J.G. Ketamine suppresses the firing of hippocampal neurons in squirrel monkeys. Submitted.
FRANK SCALIA, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Box #: 5
Phone: 270-1018, Fax: 270-3732
e-mail: fscalia@downstate.edu
|
