Research
How social interactions influence the brain
Appointments
- Professor, Integrative Biology and Physiology
- Tennenbaum Center for the Biology of Creativity
- Member, ACCESS Program: Dept. of Molecular, Cell & Integrative Physiology
- Neuroscience IDP
- Brain Research Institute
- Faculty, Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology IDP
Biography
Autism can be clinically diagnosed by two deficits: an inability to participate in joint attention, and poor language development with abnormal social use. The goal of the White laboratory is to understand the mechanisms of this disorder and to develop treatments to compensate for these deficits.
Vocal-learning in songbirds shares key aspects with human speech. In both songbirds and humans:
- Vocal-learning happens during a critical developmental window
- It occurs within discrete regions of the brain that are dedicated to the development and production of learned vocalizations
- Social influences have a significant impact on vocal-learning.
The White laboratory uses songbirds for their unparalleled potential to reveal the basic neural mechanisms that underlie vocal learning. Manipulation of the pupil-tutor relationship is used to determine how social interactions impact learning. In addition, we use genetic interference strategies to functionally test the effects of over- or under-expression of molecules involved in learning in mammals, for their role in vocal learning under different rearing conditions.
Publications
- Origenes, AN, White, SA, McGinty, EE, Vernick, JS. State Driving Under the Influence of Drugs Laws. J Law Med Ethics. 2024;52 (S1):85-88. doi: 10.1017/jme.2024.39. PubMed PMID:38995259 .
- Gedman, GL, Kimball, TH, Atkinson, LL, Factor, D, Vojtova, G, Farias-Virgens, M et al.. CHIRP-Seq: FoxP2 transcriptional targets in zebra finch brain include numerous speech and language-related genes. Res Sq. 2024; :. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4542378/v1. PubMed PMID:38978588 PubMed Central PMC11230500.
- Callaghan, CJ, Mumford, L, Madden, S, Mehew, J, White, SA, Garcia Saez, D et al.. Response to "Following the Flow: Changes in Organ Preservation Methods Require Changes in Our Data Collection". Transplantation. 2024;108 (7):e152. doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000005021. PubMed PMID:38917243 .
- Stoop, TF, Oba, A, Wu, YHA, Beaty, LE, Colborn, KL, Janssen, BV et al.. Pathological Complete Response in Patients With Resected Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma After Preoperative Chemotherapy. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7 (6):e2417625. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.17625. PubMed PMID:38888920 PubMed Central PMC11185983.
- Baird, A, White, SA, Das, R, Tatum, N, Bisgaard, EK. Whole body physiology model to simulate respiratory depression of fentanyl and associated naloxone reversal. Commun Med (Lond). 2024;4 (1):114. doi: 10.1038/s43856-024-00536-5. PubMed PMID:38866911 PubMed Central PMC11169242.