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Education

• Ph.D. Institution: Bryn Mawr College, Department of Psychology
• Postdoctoral: State University of New York at Stony Brook, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior

Research Interests

The work in this laboratory focuses on the organization, function, and diseases of the basal ganglia and visual system, and on the evolution and fundamental organization of the vertebrate forebrain.

With respect to basal ganglia organization and function, we are exploring the neural substrate by which different types of cortical and basal ganglia neurons differ in their role in movement control. We are particularly interested in whether different types of cortical neurons communicate with different types of basal ganglia neurons to mediate different aspects of movement control. To address such issues, we use LM and EM labeling methods (pathway tracing, immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization) in various combinations to determine the neurotransmitters used by specific cells types, the inputs and outputs of those cells types, and the receptor mechanisms involved in those inputs and outputs.

In our work on basal ganglia disease, we study the means by which the gene mutation in Huntington's disease leads to selective destruction of neurons in the striatal part of the basal ganglia. We use experimental animal models and genetically engineered mice, and we have been particularly interested in the possibility that the mutation perturbs the function of cortical neurons projecting to striatum so as to render them injurious to their target striatal neurons. This injury process could involve excess glutamate release from corticostriatal terminals or diminished production by corticostriatal neurons of neurotrophic factors needed for survival by striatal neurons.

In our work on the visual system, we are interested in the neural mechanisms by which blood flow in the choroid of the eye is adaptively controlled according to retinal need and in the role disturbances in such neural control may play in age-related decline in retinal function.

Finally, we have a longstanding interest in the evolution of the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus, and in how these structures differ among birds, reptiles and mammals. In our studies, we use neurochemistry, hodology and the localization of developmentally regulated genes to characterize the organization of these regions and ascertain the course evolution has taken.

Representative Publications

• Tong Y, Ha TJ, Liu L, Nishimoto A, Reiner A, Goldowitz D. Spatial and temporal requirements for huntingtin (Htt) in neuronal migration and survival during brain development. J Neurosci. 2011 Oct 12;31(41):14794-9. PubMed PMID: 21994396.
• Reiner A, Dragatsis I, Dietrich P. Genetics and neuropathology of Huntington's disease. Int Rev Neurobiol. 2011;98:325-72. Review. PubMed PMID: 21907094.
• Reiner A, Del Mar N, Zagvazdin Y, Li C, Fitzgerald ME. Age-related impairment in choroidal blood flow compensation for arterial blood pressure fluctuation in pigeons. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011 Sep 14;52(10):7238-47. Print 2011 Sep. PubMed PMID: 21828151; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3207724.
• Reiner A, Yang M, Cagle MC, Honig MG. Localization of cerebellin-2 in late embryonic chicken brain: implications for a role in synapse formation and for brain evolution. J Comp Neurol. 2011 Aug 1;519(11):2225-51. doi: 10.1002/cne.22626. PubMed PMID: 21456003.
• Reiner A, Hart NM, Lei W, Deng Y. Corticostriatal projection neurons - dichotomous types and dichotomous functions. Front Neuroanat. 2010 Oct 25;4:142. PubMed PMID: 21088706; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2982718.
• Li C, Fitzgerald ME, Ledoux MS, Gong S, Ryan P, Del Mar N, Reiner A. Projections from the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus and the nucleus of the solitary tract to prechoroidal neurons in the superior salivatory nucleus: Pathways controlling rodent choroidal blood flow. Brain Res. 2010 Oct 28;1358:123-39. Epub 2010 Aug 27. PubMed PMID: 20801105; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2949519.

View more references (pubmed link)