Research Interests
Projects in the West Lab derive from our interest in the mechanisms and consequences of regulated transcription in the nervous system.

Neurotransmitter reception and subsequent membrane depolarization drive the influx of calcium across the plasma membrane and the activation of intracellular signaling cascades.  These signaling  events transduce transient electrical activity into  a long-lasting cellular memory of synaptic activity, as read out in part through the transcription of new gene products in the nucleus.

As described on the pages linked above, projects in our laboratory span from studying how transcriptional regulators are modulated by calcium signaling pathways to investigating the role of activity-regulated gene products in the development and plasticity of the nervous system. Most importantly, all of the work is our laboratory is guided by our mission statement:

“To ask rigorously defined questions, to learn something new about the brain, and to enjoy the process of discovery.”

We hope that you will enjoy our discoveries as well.

We use transfection of low density neuronal cultures to study how gene manipulation in single cells affects the process of synapse formation.
The image above shows a GFP-transfected neuron (green) grown in culture on a bed of underlying glial cells (labeled for GFAP in blue). Synapses are labeled for synapsin I (red).