pyramid.bio.brandeis.edu was the old home of the Nelson and Turrigiano lab websites. Please choose a website to visit:

• Nelson lab - The Nelson Lab is located in the recently constructed Shapiro Science Center at Brandeis University located in Waltham, Massachusetts and is a member of the National Center for Behavioral Genomics. We are primarily interested in examining the mammalian neocortex. Our lab combines electrophysiology, advanced imaging techniques, mouse genetics and high throughput gene expression analysis allowing us to perturb various neuronal populations and examine the impact on circuit development and function.
• Turrigiano lab - The Turrigiano lab studies the plasticity mechanisms that allow our brains to “tune themselves up” and remain both plastic and stable. More than a decade ago they discovered a family of “homeostatic” plasticity mechanisms, including Synaptic Scaling, that allow neurons to adjust their excitability to maintain constant firing rates in the face of outside perturbations. More recently they have been probing the role of homeostatic plasticity in the experience-dependent development of the visual cortex, especially how homeostatic mechanisms interact with classical forms of synaptic plasticity such at LTP/LTD to allow experience-dependent circuit refinement.