Directory of Experts
Details for Dr Maria Usowicz
| Personal details | |||
| Name | Dr Maria Usowicz | ||
| Job title | Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology |
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| Department | School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience University of Bristol |
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| Contact details | This expert can be contacted via the University of Bristol Public Relations
Office. To help us deal with your request, please mention the Directory of Experts when contacting the Public Relations Office. work+44 (0)117 331 8092 email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk |
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| Qualifications | B.Sc.(Hons), PhD | ||
| Professional details | |||
| Keywords | cerbellar slices patch-clamp recording tonic neurotransmission cerebellar purkinje cells cerebellar granule cells tonic inhibition alternative splicing calcium channels; synaptic transmission; cerebellum |
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| Areas of expertise | -Voltage-gated calcium channels in the brain. I am investigating how the functional and molecular properties of P-type channels vary between different types of brain neurons and during neuronal maturation. -Synaptic transmission in the brain. I am interested in the speed of synaptic transmission and how this is defined at a particular synapse, the quantal properties, the spatial spread of transmitter, and how these properties change during maturation of the brain. My focus is on synaptic transmission at identified synapses in immature and mature cerebellum. -Down's syndrome. Motor deficits of varying severity are common to individuals with Down's syndrome, such as slower development of and difficulty in acquiring new motor skills, strabismus, nystagmus, impaired speech, altered posture, gait and balance. There is loss of ~25% of granule neurons in the cerebellum. I am exploring how the intrinsic and synaptic properties of the surviving granule cells are altered in the Ts65Dn model. |
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