Russell D. Fernald






		Russell D. Fernald Title Professor Department Psychology Research Interests Social control of the nervous system and molecular basis of visual system development and function. Email russ@psych.stanford.edu Phone 725-2421 Fax 725-0336 Address Bldg. 420 Rm 436 Mail Code: 2130 http://www.stanford.edu/group/fernaldlab/ Faculty Research Description In the course of evolution, two of the strongest selective forces in nature, light and sex, have left their mark on living organisms. I am interested in how the development and function of the nervous system reflects these events. We study visual system function and development to understand how light has shaped the nervous system and the neural control of reproduction to discover how sex has influenced neural systems. In the visual system, we are studying the cellular basis of retinal development. In particular, we want to know how specific cell lines arise, how cell division in those lines is regulated and how differentiation into cellular phenotypes is controlled. The experiments we perform utilize a collection of cell markers which identify cell structure, such as antibodies, and cell function, such as probes to messenger RNA to locate retinal cell types and characterize their developmental state. Among other cellular phenotypes, we are interested in a novel progenitor cell which gives rise to new rod photoreceptor cells in the teleost retina, and may have a variable fate dependent on the microenvironment it encounters. In the reproductive system, we have identified a collection of cells in the brain containing gonodotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) that respond to changes in the social conditions by changing size. That is, when an animal is dominant, the cells grow significantly larger (ca 8X) and when an animal is not dominant, the cells shrink back to normal size. This social control of cell size is an important component of the animal's adaptation to constraints in its natural environment.We have also shown that animals upregulate GnRH release and they also upregulate the expression of the GnRH receptor. We seek to understand how recognition of social opportunity is translated into cell specific changes using methods ranging from behavioral observation to molecular analyses. Representative Publication(s): Fernald, R.D. (2000) Evolution of eyes. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 10:444-450 Hofmann, H.A. and R. D. Fernald (2000) Social status controls somatostatin-neuron size and growth. Journal of Neuroscience 20:4740-4. Robison, R.R., R.B. White, N. Illing, B.E. Troskie, M. Morley, R.P. Millar and R.D. Fernald (2001) GnRH receptor in the teleost Haplochromis burtoni: Structure, location and function. Endocrinology, 142:1737-1743. Zygar, C.A., M. L. Lee, and R.D. Fernald (1999) Nasotemporal asymmetry in teleost retinal growth: Sustaining an area of specialization. J. Neurobiology 41:435-442. . Fernald, R.D. and S. A. White (1999) Social control of brains: From behavior to genes. In: The Cognitive Neurosciences, 2nd Edition, Ed. M.S. Gazzaniga, MIT Press, Cambridge, pp. 1193-1208. Areas of Study Systems/Behavioral Neuroscience Cellular Neurobiology Molecular Neurobiology Developmental Neuroscience SBRC Ph.D.