Corinna Darian-Smith
Academic Appointments
- Associate Professor, Comparative Medicine
Key Documents
Contact Information
- Academic Offices
Personal Information Email Tel (650) 736-0969Alternate Contact Julie Schnitzer Assistant Director of Finance and Administration Email Tel Work (650) 498-5254
Professional Overview
Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations
Scientific Focus
Current Research Interests
My research focuses on two main areas:
1) the structural organization and function of central neural pathways (e.g. of the spinal cord, brainstem, thalamus and cortex) that underlie directed manual behavior, and
2) the capacity of these central neural pathways (circuits) to compensate/adapt following localized injury. Our laboratory uses neuroanatomical, electrophysiological and behavioural approaches to look at the sensorimotor systems of nonhuman primates, and to examine the neural basis for functional 'recovery observed following the selective disruption of pathways mediating fine finger control.
We are also interested in the presence and role of adult neurogenesis in the CNS following injury.
Publications
- Adult neurogenesis occurs in primate sensorimotor cortex following cervical dorsal rhizotomy. J Neurosci. 2010; (25): 8613-23
- Changes in synaptic populations in the spinal dorsal horn following a dorsal rhizotomy in the monkey. J Comp Neurol. 2010; (1): 103-17
- Synaptic plasticity, neurogenesis, and functional recovery after spinal cord injury. Neuroscientist. 2009; (2): 149-65
- Adult neurogenesis in primate and rodent spinal cord: comparing a cervical dorsal rhizotomy with a dorsal column transection. Eur J Neurosci. 2007; (10): 2777-94
- Monkey models of recovery of voluntary hand movement after spinal cord and dorsal root injury. ILAR J. 2007; (4): 396-410
- Synaptic protein dynamics in hibernation. J Neurosci. 2007; (1): 84-92

