Faculty » Edward Korzus

My lab studies how neural circuits hold knowledge and guide behavior. The human brain processes acquired information in highly interconnected cortical areas where execution of specific neuronal functions result in thoughts and behaviors. However, there is no simple relationship between topographical cortex organization and function. The existence of neuronal diversity and multiple neurotransmitter systems underscore the complexity of neuronal communication. In our lab, we are mainly concerned with neural mechanisms of information processing as revealed through behavioral studies and with the circuitry functional organization in hippocampal-cortical memory system. Recognizing the components and rules that, in response to learning experience, control changes in synaptic connectivity is critical to unveil the mechanisms involved in information processing and storage. The lab employs molecular neurogenetic technologies to monitor and manipulate activity of specific neurons within brain circuits. We examine spatiotemporal dynamics of neural information processing using genetic model system in conjunction with functional imaging, biochemical, electrophysiological and behavioral techniques. Insights gained in these studies bring us closer to identifying or understanding neural correlates of knowledge, relationships between cortical circuitry anatomy and physiology, and information processing psychopathology.

Selected Publications

Colvis, C. C., Pollock, J. D., R.H., G., Impey, S., Dunn, J., Mandel, G., Champagne, F. A., Mayford, M., Korzus, E., Kumar, A Renthal, W., Theobalb, D. E., Nestler, E. J. (2005). Epigenetic mechanisms and gene networks in the nervous system. J Neurosci 25, 10379-89.

Korzus, E., Rosenfeld, M. G., and Mayford, M. (2004). CBP histone acetyltransferase activity is a critical component of memory consolidation. Neuron 42, 961-972.

Limback-Stokin, K., Korzus, E., Nagaoka-Yasuda, R., and Mayford, M. (2004). Nuclear calcium/calmodulin regulates memory consolidation. J Neurosci 24, 10858-10867.

Mayford, M., and Korzus, E. (2002). Genetics of Memory in the Mouse. In Neuropsychology of Memory, L. R. Squire, and D. L. Schacter, eds. ( New York, The Guilford Press), pp. 487-491.

Korzus, E., Torchia, J., Rose, D. W., Xu, L., Kurokawa, R., McInerney, E. M., Mullen, T. M., Glass, C. K., and Rosenfeld, M. G. (1998). Transcription factor-specific requirements for coactivators and their acetyltransferase functions. Science 279, 703-707.