Corinna Darian-Smith

Title
Assistant Professor

Department
Comparative Medicine

Research Interests
Somatosensory and motor pathway organization in adult primates, hand function, systemic responses to focal injury affecting hand function.

Email
corinna.darian-smith@stanford.edu

Phone
736-0969

Fax
498-6259

Address
300 Pasteur Drive
Edwards Building Room R106
Mail Code: 5330

Faculty Research Description
The research focus in my laboratory falls into two main areas: (1) the organization and function of somatosensory and motor pathways underlying directed manual behavior, and (2) the capacity of these pathways to compensate/adapt following localized injury. We are particularly interested in the primate and the macaque monkey, where hand function and the central neuronal pathways mediating fine finger control, closely approximate that of the human. We use a combination of behavioral, neuroanatomical and electrophysiological approaches to examine specific questions relating to sensorimotor organization and reorganization in the adult system.

Darian-Smith C, Gilbert CD. (1994) Axonal sprouting accompanies functional reorganization in adult cat striate cortex. Nature. 368:737-40

Darian-Smith C, Gilbert CD. (1995) Topographic reorganization in the striate cortex of the adult cat and monkey is cortically mediated. J Neurosci. 15:1631-47.

Darian-Smith I, Galea MP, Darian-Smith C, Sugitani M, Tan A & Burman K. (1996) The anatomy of manual dexterity: the new connectivity of the primate sensorimotor thalamus and cerebral cortex. In: Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology. Vol. 133: 1-141. Springer: Berlin.

Darian-Smith C, Tan A, Edwards S. (1999) Comparing thalamocortical and corticothalamic microstructure and spatial reciprocity in the macaque ventral posterolateral nucleus (VPLc) and medial pulvinar. J Comp Neurol. 410:211-34.

Darian-Smith C, Brown S. (2000) Functional changes at periphery and cortex following dorsal root lesions in adult monkeys. Nat Neurosci. 3:476-81.

Areas of Study
Systems Neurobiology
Adult Neuronal Plasticity
SBRC