Martha Constantine-Paton is a

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. She is a member of the

McGovern Institute for Brain Research The McGovern Institute for Brain Research is a research institute within MIT. Its mission is to understand how the brain works and to discover new ways to prevent or treat brain disorders. The institute was founded in 2000 by Patrick McGovern ...

and a professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

Overview

Prior to joining MIT in 1999 she held faculty appointments at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

and

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

. She is an expert on

synaptic plasticity In neuroscience, synaptic plasticity is the ability of synapses to Chemical synapse#Synaptic strength, strengthen or weaken over time, in response to increases or decreases in their activity. Since memory, memories are postulated to be represent ...

and

brain development The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head ( cephalization), usually near organs for special sens ...

, particularly

visual development The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to perception, detect and process light). The system detects, phototransduction, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to ...

. She is known for her studies on three-eyed frogs, a demonstration of

neural plasticity Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity or just plasticity, is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to reorganize and rewire its neural ...

in which a third eye grafted into a developing tadpole produces a pattern of overlapping connections that resemble mammalian

ocular dominance columns Ocular dominance columns are stripes of neurons in the visual cortex of certain mammals (including humans) that respond preferentially to input from one eye or the other. The columns span multiple cortical layers, and are laid out in a striped pat ...

. Using this system, she and her colleagues demonstrated the importance of

NMDA receptor The ''N''-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (also known as the NMDA receptor or NMDAR), is a glutamate receptor and predominantly Ca2+ ion channel found in neurons. The NMDA receptor is one of three types of ionotropic glutamate receptors, the other ...

s in development plasticity. She currently studies the molecular mechanisms that underlie the brain's response to visual experience. Her work is also relevant to understanding the mechanisms of schizophrenia and

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(Lou Gehrig's disease).

Personal life

She is married to Nobel laureate H. Robert Horvitz.

References

External links

Constantine-Paton lab at MITMcGovern Institute for Brain Research
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constantine-Paton, Martha American women neuroscientists American neuroscientists Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty Living people Cornell University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) American women academics 21st-century American women