Ernest J. Nordeen
PhD, University of California
at Irvine, 1982
Professor, Brain & Cognitive Sciences and Neurobiology & Anatomy
Director, Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience
- Contact Information
- Research Overview
- Recent Publications
- Research Collaborators
- Research Support
- Courses
- Current Graduate Students & Research Associates
Contact Information
- Meliora 116
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences
- University of Rochester
- Rochester, NY 14627-0268
- (585) 275-8453 (office)
Office Hours
By appointment.
Research Overview
I employ molecular, pharmacological, anatomical and behavioral approaches to investigate neural mechanisms underlying vocal learning and plasticity in songbirds. One aspect of my work aims to characterize synaptic changes related to the encoding of auditory memories used as templates for vocal learning. These studies focus on cellular substrates of learning within a striatal-thalamic-cortical circuit specifically implicated in avian song. I also am interested in how gonadal hormones and diffuse neuromodulatory systems (e.g. dopaminergic cell groups) regulate synaptic processes related to learning. Finally, I also employ the avian song system as a model in which to study adult neurogenesis as a substrate for adaptive sensorimotor plasticity.
Recent Publications
- Singh, T.D., E.J. Nordeen, & K.W. Nordeen (2005). Song tutoring triggers CaMKII phosphorylation within a specialized portion of the avian basal ganglia. J Neurobiol, 65(2): 179-191.
- Heinrich, J.E., K.W. Nordeen, & E.J. Nordeen (2005). Dissociation between extension of the sensitive period for avian vocal learning and the timing of dendritic spine loss in the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium. Neurobiol. Learning and Memory, 83: 143-150.
- Scott, L., T.D. Singh, E.J. Nordeen, & K.W. Nordeen (2004). Developmental patterns of NMDAR expression within the song system do not recur during adult vocal plasticity in zebra finches. J. Neurobiol, 58, 442-54.
- Nordeen, K.W. & E.J. Nordeen (2004). Synaptic and molecular mechanisms regulating plasticity during early learning. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 1016, 416-437.
- Heinrich, J.E., Singh, T.D., Nordeen, K.W., & Nordeen, E.J. (2003). NR2B downregulation in a forebrain region required for avian vocal learning is not sufficient to close the sensitive period for song learning. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 79, 99-108.
- Singh, T.D., Heinrich, J.E., Wissman, A. Brenowitz, E.A., Nordeen, E.J. & K.W Nordeen (2003). Seasonal regulation of NMDA receptor NR2B mRNA in the adult canary song system. J. Neurobiol., 54, 593-603.
- Heinrich, J.E., Singh, T.D., Sohrabji, F., Nordeen, K.W., & Nordeen, E.J. (2002). Developmental and hormonal regulation of NR2A mRNA in forebrain regions controlling avian vocal learning. Journal of Neurobiology, 51, 149-159.
- Scott, L., Nordeen, E.J., & Nordeen, K.W. (2000). The relationship between rates of HVc neuron addition and vocal plasticity in adult songbirds. Journal of Neurobiology, 43, 79-88.
- Singh, T.D., Basham, M.E., Nordeen, E.J., & Nordeen, K.W. (2000). Early sensory and hormonal experience modulate age-related changes in NR2B mRNA within a forebrain region controlling avian vocal learning. Journal of Neurobiology, 44, 82-94.
- Basham, M.E., Sohrabji, F., Singh, T.D., Nordeen, E.J., & Nordeen, K.W. (1999). Developmental regulation of NMDA receptor 2b subunit mRNA and ifenprodil binding in the zebra finch anterior forebrain. Journal of Neurobiology, 39, 155-167.
- Ward, B., Nordeen, K.W., & Nordeen, E.J. (1998). Individual variation in neuron number predicts differences in the propensity for avian vocal imitation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 95, 1277-1282.
- Nordeen, K.W., & Nordeen, E.J. (1997). Anatomical and synaptic substrates for avian song learning. Journal of Neurobiology, 33, 532-548.
- Aamodt, S.M., Nordeen, E.J., & Nordeen, K.W. (1996). Blockade of NMDA receptors during song model exposure impairs song development in juvenile Zebra finches. Learning and Memory, 65, 91-98.
- Basham, M.E., Nordeen, E.J., & Nordeen, K.W. (1996). Blockade of NMDA receptors in the anterior forebrain impairs sensory acquisition in the Zebra finch. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 66, 295-304.
- Aamodt, S.M., Nordeen, E.J., & Nordeen, K.W. (1995). Early isolation from conspecific song does not affect the normal developmental decline of NMDA receptor binding in an avian song nucleus. Journal of Neurobiology, 27, 76-84.
- Nordeen, K.W., & Nordeen, E.J. (1992). Auditory feedback is necessary for the maintenance of stereotyped song in adult Zebra finches. Behavioral and Neural Biology, 57, 58-66.
- Nordeen, E.J., & Nordeen, K.W. (1990). Neurogenesis and sensitive periods in avian vocal learning. Trends in Neurosciences, 13, 31-36.
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Research Collaborators
- Eliot A. Brenowitz, Professor, Depts Psychology and Biology, U. Washington
- David J. Perkel, Assoc. Professor, Depts Biology and Otolaryngology, U. Washington
- Hermes H. Yeh, Professor, Dept Pharmacology & Physiology, U. Rochester
- Steven A. Goldman, Professor, Dept Neurosurgery, U. Rochester
- Timothy J. DeVoogd, Professor, Dept Psychology, Cornell University
- Kathy Nordeen, Professor, Dept Brain & Cognitive Sciences, U. Rochester
- Farida Sohrabji, Dept Human Anatomy & Medical Neurobiology, Texas A&M
Research Support
My research has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, and the Schmitt Program for Integrative Neuroscience
Courses
Undergraduate
- BCS 240/NSC 201: Basic Neurobiology
- BCS 249/NSC 249: Developmental Neurobiology
Current Students and Research Associates
- Aadavai Sridharan
- Dr. David Holtzman
Former Graduate Students and Postdocs
- Dr. Farida Sohrabji: Assoc. Professor, Texas A&M
- Dr. Sandra Aamodt: Senior Editor, Nature Neuroscience
- Dr. Michael Burek: Merck Pharmeceuticals
- Dr. Mark Basham: Asst Professor, Metropolitan State College of Denver
- Dr. Bonnie Ward: Post-doc, Wellesley College
- Dr. Luisa Scott: Post-doc, U. of Texas, Austin
- Dr. Julie Heinrich: Post-doc, U. Notre Dame
- Marla Bruns (Master's student): MD/PhD program, Syracuse U.
- Dr. Tryambak Singh (Postdoc): Assoc. Professor, Baranas Hindu U.