Email: schei399 AT umn DOT edu

Research Project: The motor cortex is a key neural structure in the acquisition and adjustment of motor skills. In the past couple decades we've began to understand that the principle cell type in the cortex, pyramidal cells, can operate as two distinct computational compartments - the soma and the apical dendrites. In vitro studies have shown that apical dendritic calcium spikes can cause bursting and drive plasticity of pyramidal cells. What drives these events in vivo, especially in the context of motor learning, remains unclear. Many modern theoretical models of learning posit apical dendrites as key initiators of circuit plasticity and learning, and with the advent of modern imaging techniques we now have the capability to study these dendrites and their deep layer 5 somas across several days of learning. My project is to investigate these apical dendritic spikes in the motor cortex and their role in motor learning.