Section: Research

Thomas Schoenfeld, Ph.D.

Academic Role: Research Associate Professor

Faculty Appointment(s) In:
   Physiology

Olfactory Neurobiology: Spatial Coding, Persistent Neurogenesis in Adulthood

I am interested in the functional design and development of neuronal circuits in the olfactory system. Our work focuses on the olfactory receptor neurons that line the nose and the pattern and development of their connections with their target neurons in the olfactory bulb of the brain. Two questions are uppermost in ongoing research projects in my laboratory: Does the olfactory system make use of a spatial code during the process of smelling, as do most other sensory systems? Under what conditions, if any, can olfactory receptor neurons born in adulthood from mitotically active stem and progenitor cells live as l ong as most other neurons in the adult nervous system? We study these questions in keen-smelling rodents (hamsters, mice, rats), using a variety of techniques available in my laboratory (e.g., immunocytochemistry, enzyme histochemistry, computer-mediated mapping and measurement of neuronal circuits, circuit tracing via transport/diffusion of dyes or viruses) and through collaborations with colleagues at UMass and elsewhere (electrophysiology, molecular biology, analytical chemistry). Better understanding of these and related questions may help us to identify important strategies for characterizing and treating human olfactory dysfunction, and to uncover the potential role of intrinsic, mitotically-active stem and progenitor cells in the maintenance and/or restoration of function in the normal and traumatized adult nervous system.

Office: (Biotech 4, Room 304)
Phone: 508 856-8759
E-mail: Thomas.Schoenfeld@umassmed.edu
Keywords: Neurobiology, Organisms - mouse, Sensory Systems, Imaging and Microscopy, Physiology

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