Joshua Brumberg, PhD
Basic Information
Title: Professor of Psychology & Dean for the Science, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Area: Neurobiology
PhD: University of Pittsburgh, 1997
E-mail: joshua.brumberg@qc.cuny.edu
Office: 297 Razran
Office Phone: 718-997-3541
Lab: 297 Razran
Lab Phone: 718-997-3541
Website:
Professional Activities
Society Memberships:
- Society for Neuroscience
- New York Academy of the Sciences
- Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience
- Sigma Xi
- American Physiological Society
- Chair Barrels Organizing Committee (since 2004) International meeting focused on the rodent sensorimotor system
Research Description
The function of an electronic device such as a transistor radio can be explained based on its identifiable circuit elements; resistors, capacitors and transistors. Similarly, understanding the individual elements of a cortical circuit and how they interact brings us a step closer to understanding the function of the circuit as a whole and ultimately its behavior in response to environmental stimuli. While the analogy applies to the neocortex, deciphering the cortical microcircuit is much more difficult due to the diversity of components and the numbers of interconnections between the different elements. The focus of the Brumberg’s lab research is to characterize the neurons of the mouse barrel cortex with an emphasis on how sensory experience during post-natal development shapes brain.
Anatomical Studies: Using the Golgi-Cox silver impregnation technique, we have characterized the normal morphological development and have defined the morphological classes of neurons in layer VI of barrel cortex. We have demonstrated that sensory deprivation (via whisker trimming) leads to increases in soma size, dendritic length and alters the density of dendritic spines (the source of excitatory input onto neurons). We have expanded our studies to investigate non-neuronal elements such as glia (microglia and oligodendrocytes) and a neuron specific form of the extracellular matrix called the perineuronal net. We have shown that both these components are shaped by sensory experience during a developmental critical period.
Physiological Studies: We utilize in vivo single unit recording and whole cell patch clamp techniques to characterize the intrinsic properties of neurons as well as studying the nature of their inputs. We have recently shown how the perineuronal net impacts both cell intrinsic and synaptic properties in vitro and our in vivo studies have shown how animals process information at the level of the brainstem.
Through this integrated approach we are attempting to define the neuronal building blocks and their synaptic partners within mouse barrel cortex to understand the structure and functions of the cortical micro-circuit which is thought to underlie cortical computations and cognitive functions.
Selected Publications
- Rocco, M.M., Brumberg, J.C. The sensorimotor slice, Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 162(2007):139-147.
- McRae, P., Rocco, M. M., Brumberg J.C., Mathews, R.T., Sensory Deprivation alters aggrecan expression and perineuronal net formation in the mouse barrel cortex. Journal Neuroscience. 27: 5405-5413, 2007.
- Chen, C-C, Abrams, S. Pinhas, A., Brumberg J.C. Morphological Heterogeneity of Layer VI Neurons in Mouse Barrel Cortex. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 512(2009):726-746.
- Barrera K., Chu P., Abramowitz J.A., Steger R., Ramos R.L., Brumberg J.C. Organization of Myelin in the Mouse Somatosensory Barrel Cortex and the Effects of Sensory Deprivation. Developmental Neurobiology, 73(2013):297-314. {Cover Article}
- Chen CC, Bajnath A, Brumberg J.C. The Impact of Development and Sensory Deprivation on Dendritic Protrusions in the Mouse Barrel Cortex, Cereb Cortex. 25(2015):1638-53. {Cover Article}
- Chu P, Abraham R, Kahn U, De Marco Garcia N, Brumberg JC. Perineuronal nets regulate the intrinsic physiology of neurons in a cell type specific manner. Neuroscience, 388 (2018):23-35.
- Kalambogias J, Chen C-C, Khan S, Son T, Wercberger R, Headlam C, Lin C, Brumberg JC. Development and Sensory Experience Dependent Regulation of Microglia in Barrel Cortex. Journal of Comparative Neurology. 528 (2020):550-573. {Cover Article}