Raphael Pinaud

PhD, Oregon Health & Science University, 2005
Assistant Professor, Brain & Cognitive Sciences and the Center for Visual Science

Contact Information
Research Overview
Selected Publications
Research Collaborators

Visit the Pinaud Lab site

Contact Information

Meliora 117
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-0268
(585) 276-4024 (office)
(585) 442-9216 (fax)

Office Hours

By appointment.

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Research Overview

A remarkable property of the vertebrate brain is that both its structural and functional connectivity is malleable and can adapt to alterations in the sensory environment. This intrinsic adaptive capacity, commonly referred to as plasticity, is required for normal brain development, learning, memory formation, and the response of the nervous system to central or peripheral damage. Work in my laboratory is focused on understanding the molecular and cellular basis of experience-dependent plasticity of sensory systems. In addition, we are interested in how normal and abnormal sensory experiences impact sensory perception, behavioral learning and memory formation. We use two experimental models to pursue these questions; the songbird auditory system and the rodent visual system. In both sensory systems we study a series of fundamental issues including (a) characterizing the anatomical and functional organization of circuits underlying sensory processing in these systems; (b) studying the impact of manipulations in the external environment (e.g., enhanced or deprived sensory experiences), or those intrinsic to the brain (e.g., genetic, pharmacological interventions or injury), and characterizing how these plasticity-inducing conditions impact sensory processing, learning and memory formation; (c) uncovering the molecular cascades that mediate these experience- and injury-induced plasticity events, and detailing how they are dynamically regulated; (d) establishing the precise roles that plasticity-related molecules play in modifying the physiology of single cells and neuronal ensembles to generate adaptive neural responses and behavior.

To address the broad research lines outlined above, the Pinaud Lab employs a multi-disciplinary approach that involves rigorous molecular, cellular, anatomical and histological techniques, in addition to in-vitro electrophysiology (patch-clamp) and in-vivo multi-electrode recordings (awake animals). We also use high-throughput molecular screening strategies, including quantitative proteomics (2D-DIGE-based proteomics and mass spectrometry) and genomics approaches, in combination with behavioral methodologies. Finally, to establish causal links between experience-regulated molecular cascades and the physiology of neural circuits and behavior, we have been using knock-out and transgenic animal lines, and developing gene manipulation tools. The long-term goal of our research is to uncover how experience impacts the molecular and cellular biology of neurons and how these changes lead to altered neural processing strategies of behaviorally-relevant sensory information, ultimately leading to adaptive behaviors such as learning. Our research is also expected to shed light on potential ways to harness and/or alter the intrinsic molecular and cellular machinery of neurons to promote and facilitate functional recovery of sensory loss and a number of other disabilities that follow peripheral or central nervous system injury, such as deafness, blindness, phantom limb sensations and stroke.

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Selected Publications

BOOKS

Pinaud, R, Tremere, LA & De Weerd, P (Eds.) Plasticity in the Visual System: From Genes to Circuits. Springer-Verlag, New York (2005). ISBN: 0-387-28189-4.
Pinaud, R & Tremere, LA (Eds.) Immediate Early Genes in Sensory Processing, Cognitive Performance and Neurological Disorders. Springer-Verlag, New York (2006). ISBN: 0-387-33603-6.

SELECTED PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

Pinaud, R & Mello, CV. (2007) GABA immunoreactivity in auditory and song control brain areas of zebra finches. J. Chem. Neuroanat 34: 1-21.
Pinaud, R, Saldanha, CJ, Wynne, R, Lovell, P & Mello, CV (2007) The excitatory thalamo-cortical projection within the song control system of zebra finches is formed exclusively by calbindin-expressing neurons: evidence for a sexually dimorphic projection. J. Comp. Neurol. (in press).
Pinaud, R, Fortes, AF, Lovell, PV & Mello, CV (2006) Calbindin-positive neurons reveal a sexual dimorphism within the songbird analogue of the mammalian auditory cortex. J. Neurobiol. 66, 182-195.
Tremere, LA & Pinaud, R. (2006) Disparity for disinhibitory and excitatory effects during cortical reorganization. Int. J. Neurosci. 116: 547-564
Tremere, LA & Pinaud, R. (2005) Incongruent restoration of inhibitory transmission and general metabolic activity during reorganization of somatosensory cortex. Int. J. Neurosci. 115, 1003-1015.
Pinaud, R (2004) Experience-dependent immediate early gene expression in the adult central nervous system: evidence from enriched-environment studies. Int. J. Neurosci. 114, 321-333.
Mello, CV, Velho, TAF & Pinaud, R. (2004) Song-induced gene expression: a window on song auditory processing and perception. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1016, 263-281.
Pinaud, R, Velho, TAF, Jeong, JK, Tremere, LA, Leão, RM, von Gersdorff, H & Mello, CV. (2004) GABAergic neurons participate in the brain’s response to birdsong auditory stimulation. Eur. J. Neurosci. 20, 1318-1330.
Pinaud, R, Vargas, CD, Ribeiro, S, Monteiro, MV, Tremere, LA, Vianney, P, Delgado, P, Mello, CV, Rocha-Miranda, CE & Volchan, E. (2003) Light-induced egr-1 expression in the striate cortex of the opossum. Brain Res. Bull. 61, 139-146.
Pinaud, R, De Weerd P, Currie RW, Fiorani, Jr., M, Hess, FF & Tremere, LA. (2003) NGFI-A immunoreactivity in the primate retina: implications for genetic regulation of plasticity. Int. J. Neurosci. 113, 1275-1285.
Pinaud, R, Tremere, LA, Penner, MR, Hess, FF, Barnes, SA, Robertson, HA & Currie, RW (2002) Plasticity-driven gene expression in the rat retina. Mol. Brain Res. 98, 93-101.
Pinaud, R, Tremere, LA, Penner, MR, Hess, FF, Robertson, HA & Currie, RW (2002). Complexity of sensory environment drives the expression of candidate-plasticity gene, nerve growth factor induced-A. Neuroscience 112, 573-582.
Pinaud, R, Penner, MR, Robertson, HA & Currie, RW (2001). Upregulation of the immediate early gene arc in the brains of rats exposed to environmental enrichment: implications for molecular plasticity. Mol. Brain Res. 91, 50-56.
Pinaud, R, Tremere, LA & Penner, MR (2000) Light-induced zif268 expression is dependent on noradrenergic input in rat visual cortex. Brain Res. 882, 251-255.
Mello, CV, Pinaud, R & Ribeiro, S (1998) The noradrenergic system of the zebra finch brain: immunocytochemical study of dopamine-b-hydroxylase. J. Comp. Neurol. 400, 207-228.

SELECTED BOOK CHAPTERS

Pinaud, R, Terleph, TA, Currie, RW & Tremere, LA (2006) Regulation of Immediate Early Genes in the Visual Cortex. In: Immediate Early Genes in Sensory Processing, Cognitive Performance and Neurological Disorders. R. Pinaud and L.A. Tremere (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York. Chapter 2, pp 13-33.
Mello, CV & Pinaud, R (2006) Immediate Early Gene Regulation in the Auditory System. In: Immediate Early Genes in Sensory Processing, Cognitive Performance and Neurological Disorders. R. Pinaud and L.A. Tremere (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York. Chapter 3, pp 35-56.
Pinaud, R, Filipkowski, R, Fortes, AF & Tremere, LA (2006) Immediate Early Gene Expression in the Primary Somatosensory Cortex: Focus on the Barrel Cortex. In: Immediate Early Genes in Sensory Processing, Cognitive Performance and Neurological Disorders. R. Pinaud and L.A. Tremere (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York. Chapter 5, pp 73-92.
Pinaud, R & Tremere, LA. (2005) Experience-Dependent Rewiring of Retinal Circuitry: Involvement of Immediate Early Genes. In: Plasticity in the Visual System: From Genes to Circuits. R. Pinaud, LA Tremere and P. De Weerd (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York. Chapter 5, pp 79-95.
Pinaud, R, Terleph, TA & Tremere, LA. (2005) Neuromodulatory Transmitters in Sensory Processing and Plasticity in the Primary Visual Cortex. In: Plasticity in the Visual System: From Genes to Circuits. R. Pinaud, LA Tremere and P. De Weerd (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York. Chapter 7, pp 127-151.
Pinaud, R (2005) Critical Calcium-Regulated Biochemical and Gene Expression Programs in Experience-Dependent Plasticity. In: Plasticity in the Visual System: From Genes to Circuits. R. Pinaud, LA Tremere and P. De Weerd (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York. Chapter 8, pp 153-180.
Tremere, LA & Pinaud, R. (2005) Intra-Cortical Inhibition in the Regulation of Receptive Field Properties and Neural Plasticity in the Primary Visual Cortex. In: Plasticity in the Visual System: From Genes to Circuits. R. Pinaud, LA Tremere and P. De Weerd (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York. Chapter 11, pp 229-243.
De Weerd, Pinaud, R & Bertini, G (2005) Plasticity in V1 Induced by Perceptual Learning. In: Plasticity in the Visual System: From Genes to Circuits. R. Pinaud, LA Tremere and P. De Weerd (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York. Chapter 12, pp 245-283.
Tremere, LA, De Weerd, P & Pinaud, R. (2005) A Unified Theoretical Framework for Plasticity in Visual Circuitry. In: Plasticity in the Visual System: From Genes to Circuits. R. Pinaud, LA Tremere and P. De Weerd (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York. Chapter 16, pp 347-355.
Mello, CV, Velho, TA & Pinaud, R. (2004) Song-Induced Gene Expression: A Window on Song Auditory Processing and Perception. In: Behavioral Biology of Birdsong. P. Zeigler and P. Marler (Eds.) ANYAS. Chapter 14, pp 263-281.
Tremere, LA, Pinaud, R & De Weerd, P. (2003) Contributions of Inhibitory Mechanisms to Perceptual Completion and Cortical Reorganization. In: Filling-in: From Perceptual Completion to Cortical Reorganization. L. Pessoa and P. De Weerd (Eds.), Oxford University Press. Chapter 15, pp 295-322.

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Research Collaborators

Oscar Alzate, Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Neuroproteomics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
Antonio Fortes, Research Associate, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Paul Frankland, Assistant Professor, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Erich Jarvis, Associate Professor, Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
Claudio V. Mello, Assistant Professor, Neurological Sciences Institute, OHSU, Portland, OR, USA
Ernest Nordeen, Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
Kathy Nordeen, Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
Thomas Terleph, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, USA
Liisa Tremere, Assistant Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

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