ftaher@uci.edu
RESEARCH PROJECT
My current tasks involve me helping Dr. Soyun Kim with the handling and running of optogenetic mice under different eyeblink conditioning paradigms. The mice express channel rhodopsins mainly in cortical layer 5, and receive blue light (470 nm) stimulation during training through a craniotomy that exposes the primary visual cortex. Currently the mice are being trained to see if they are able to distinguish different patterns of weak blue light stimulation. A trace conditioning paradigm is being used, as studies show it largely involves the hippocampus – an area of interest – in learning acquisition. Future plans entail running mice that have a hippocampal lesion to verify whether that the hippocampus is required for this type of associative learning.
I work exclusively with Dr. Soyun Kim.