Robert Bixler Leonard

Robert Bixler Leonard, Ph.D.

A.B. (Biology) Case Western Reserve University, 1969
Ph.D. (Physiology), University of Virginia, 1975
Member, Marine Biomedical Institute
Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences
Member, Cell Biology Graduate Program

My primary interest is to understand the basic principles of sensory-motor integration. My secondary interests are to understand the evolution of the neural circuits involved in sensory-motor integration and the evolution of the brain itself. My current interest is in the mammalian vestibular system. In particular, I am interested in establishing biochemical markers for morphophysiologically distinct groups of primary afferents. There are several reasons for this. First, the markers can be used with sterological counting methods. Together these provide a new and powerful method to obtain quantitative information on the physiological make up of vestibular primary afferents. Some of these markers only label vestibular afferents; therefore, they can be used to examine anatomically the organization of primary afferent input to different second order neurons (e.g., those mediating ocular motor responses versus those mediating postural responses). This information is critical for modeling the normal function of these response systems. Second, this approach can be easily extended to examine alterations in response to disease or aging. Third, it is likely that within a few years, samples of specific populations of neurons can be obtained based on one well-characterized marker and their entire genome characterized.

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Last updated: 06/08/05