ROBERT S. WATERS, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology

The University of Tennessee College of Medicine

Address

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

855 Monroe Avenue, Suite 515

Memphis, TN 38163

Tel: (901) 448-5796; Fax: (901) 448-7193;

Lab: 224 Wittenborg Anatomy Building

Education

Ph.D. Institution: University of Connecticut, Department of Biobehavioral Science

Postdoctoral: The Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Neurophysiology

Research Interests

Research carried out in our laboratory focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying cortical plasticity in neonatal and adult animals. Our previous work focused on understanding the development, organization, and reorganization of the forepaw barrel subfield (FBS) in layer IV of rat somatosensory cortex and we continue to use the FBS as our model system. Currently, our ongoing studies include: in-vitro whole cell patch recordings in rat to examine the role of GABAergic inhibition on corticocortical connections between neurons in neighboring FBS barrels, 2) in-vivo intracellular recording and immunohistochemistry to examine the role of GABAerigic inhibition on rapid and delayed cortical reorganization, 3) in-vivo intracellular recording to examine the role of thalamocortical neurons in delayed cortical reorganization, 4) in-vivo and in-vitro recordings and immunohistochemistry to examine the consequences of fetal alcohol exposure in FBS neurons in juvenile and adult rats.

More recently, we have begun to use quantitative techniques to characterize genes that underlie cortical organization and neuron number in the somatosensory cortex of inbred mice. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) will be mapped using BXD inbred strains.

We continue to study the effects of chronic endurance exercise on aging using the rodent animal model.

Links

The Waters Lab

Recent Publications

• Reiner DJ, Jan TA, Boughter JD Jr, Li CX, Lu L, Williams RW, Waters RS. Genetic analysis of tongue size and taste papillae number and size in recombinant inbred strains of mice. Chem Senses. 2008 Oct;33(8):693-707. Epub 2008 Jul 24. PMID: 18653645
• Heck DH, Roy S, Xie N, Waters RS. Prenatal alcohol exposure delays acquisition and use of skilled reaching movements in juvenile rats. Physiol Behav. 2008 Jul 5;94(4):540-4. Epub 2008 Mar 31. PMID: 18486160
• Jan TA, Lu L, Li CX, Williams RW, Waters RS. Genetic analysis of posterior medial barrel subfield (PMBSF) size in somatosensory cortex (SI) in recombinant inbred strains of mice. BMC Neurosci. 2008 Jan 7;9:3. PMID: 18179704
• Oladehin A, Margret CP, Maier SE, Li CX, Jan TA, Chappell TD, Waters RS. Early postnatal alcohol exposure reduced the size of vibrissal barrel field in rat somatosensory cortex (SI) but did not disrupt barrel field organization. Alcohol. 2007 Jun;41(4):253-61. PMID: 17630086
• Chappell TD, Margret CP, Li CX, Waters RS. Long-term effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the size of the whisker representation in juvenile and adult rat barrel cortex. Alcohol. 2007 Jun;41(4):239-51. PMID: 17630085
• Margret CP, Li CX, Chappell TD, Elberger AJ, Matta SG, Waters RS. Prenatal alcohol exposure delays the development of the cortical barrel field in neonatal rats. Exp Brain Res. 2006 Jun;172(1):1-13. Epub 2006 Feb 28. PMID: 16506013

view complete list of references (pubmed link)