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Melissa Caras


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—DR. CARAS WILL JOIN THE DEPARTMENT AND BEGIN ACCEPTING STUDENTS IN FALL 2019--


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Current contact information:
Email: mcaras@umd.edu
Phone: 212-998-3577
Lab Website: https://www.caraslab.org 

Graduate Program Affiliations:
  • Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS)
  • BISI- BISI-Physiological Systems (PSYS)
  • BISI- BISI-Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics (BEES)

Research Interests:
The ability to improve and refine sensory facilities with practice - a process known as perceptual learning - is critical for the acquisition of a variety of complex behaviors, including speech and language. The fundamental importance of perceptual learning in shaping our day-to-day actions and perceptions makes it of vital interest to determine how training-based improvements are implemented in the brain.  Dr. Caras explores this issue by measuring and manipulating the activation of neural circuits in freely-moving, behaving animals, with a primary focus on plasticity in auditory and top-down modulatory networks. Her laboratory employs a number of advanced approaches, including wireless recordings from multichannel electrode arrays, optogenetics, targeted infusions of pharmacological agents, quantitative animal behavior, and neuroanatomical tracing. 

Recent publications:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/browse/collection/49125189/?sort=date&direction=descending 

Education:
 
Ph.D.                 University of Washington
Postdoctoral Training    New York University

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