Lawrence Katz, Neurobiology

Research in our laboratory has focused on the development of the mammalian visual system and olfactory bulb, with emphasis on understanding the roles of neuronal activity and experience in constructing, modifying, and maintaining the complex architecture of the visual cortex. Using a wide range of electrophysiological, optical, and molecular techniques, we have investigated how and where connections form and what rules might guide their emergence, retention, and elimination. We have also begun applying our expertise gained in the visual system to begin to understand the functional architecture of a much more poorly understood sense: olfaction. We have obtained the first in vivo, high-resolution images of odorant representations in the mammalian olfactory bulb, the first central stage in olfactory processing.