VITA
Jones Lab Homepage
Email: tj@psy.utexas.edu
Phone: 232-1814 Lab Phone: 475-7763
Office: SEA 5.248 Lab: ARC 3.120
See also Behavioral Neuroscience
DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH IN DR. THERESA JONES’ LAB
My laboratory studies plasticity of neural structure and synaptic connectivity in adult animals following brain damage and during learning. Damage to the adult brain results in degeneration and neurotoxicity in regions that are connected to the site of principal injury as well as an apparently adaptive neuronal plasticity and reconfiguration of synaptic connections. Our research on the effects of focal damage to the sensorimotor cortex in adult rats indicates that neuronal responses to brain damage are dependent upon post-injury behavioral changes, including compensatory behaviors that animals develop spontaneously and those induced using motor skill learning as rehabilitative training. This work supports that the degenerative effects of brain damage induce a fertile environment for neuronal growth and synaptogenesis, but that this must be capitalized upon by appropriate behavioral pressures in order to effectively shape the neuronal restructuring. That is, the "use it or lose it" idea as applied to neuronal connections may be especially applicable to the maintenance and growth of synapses in areas which are connected to the site of an injury. Additional research focuses on motor learning-induced plasticity of the cerebellum and motor cortex in intact animals and how this is altered after damage to the neocortex of one hemisphere. An ongoing component of this research is plasticity of glial-neuronal interactions. In addition to attempting to understand mechanisms underlying neuronal adaptation to brain damage, a goal of this work is to address the efficacy of using behavior as "therapy" to promote brain changes which are functionally adaptive.
Courses
PSY 308-Biopsychology
PSY 341K-Neural Plasticity and Behavior
PSY 394P-Quantifying Brain Structure
PSY 359H and 379H-Honors Research I & II
Selected Publications
Tennant, K. A., Adkins, D. L., Donlan, N. A., Asay, A. L., Thomas, N., Kleim, J. A. and Jones, T. A. (2010). The organization of the forelimb representation of the C57BL/6 mouse motor cortex as defined by intracortical microstimulation and cytoarchitecture. Cerebral Cortex, doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhq159.
Allred, R. A., Cappellini, C. and Jones, T. A. (2010). The “good” limb makes the “bad” limb worse: Experience-dependent interhemispheric disruption of functional outcome after cortical stroke in rats. Behavioral Neuroscience, 124: 124-132.
Kim, S. Y. and Jones, T. A. (2010) Lesion size-dependent synaptic and astrocytic responses in cortex contralateral to infarcts in middle aged rats. Synapse, 64: 659-671.
Tennant, K. A., Asay, A. L., Allred, R. P., Ozburn, A. R. and Jones, T. A. (2010). The Vermicelli and Capellini Handling Tests: Simple quantitative measures of dexterous forepaw function in rats and mice. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 41: 2076. link
Xu, T., Yu, X., Perlik, A. J., Tobin, W. F., Zweig, J. A., Tennant, K., Jones, T. and Zuo, Y. (2009). Rapid formation and selective stabilization of synapses for enduring motor memories. Nature, 462: 915-919.
Jones, T. A., Allred, R. P., Adkins, D. L., Hsu, J. E., O'Bryant, A. and Maldonado, M. A. (2009). Remodeling the brain with behavioral experience after stroke. Stroke, 40: S136-S138. html pdf
Tennant, K. A. and Jones, T. A. (2009) Sensorimotor behavioral effects of endothelin-1 induced small cortical infarcts in C57BL/6 mice. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 181: 18-26.
Allred, R. P. and Jones, T. A. (2008). Maladaptive effects of learning with the less-affected forelimb after focal cortical infarcts in rats. Experimental Neurology, 210: 172-181.
Adkins, D. L., Hsu, J. E. and Jones, T. A. (2008). Motor cortical stimulation promotes synaptic plasticity and behavioral improvements after sensorimotor cortical infarcts in rats. Experimental Neurology, 212: 14-28.
Maldonado, M. A., Allred, R. P., Felthauser, E. L. and Jones, T. A. (2008). Rehabilitative training, but not voluntary running, improves recovery of skilled reaching after unilateral ischemic lesions of the sensorimotor cortex in rats. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 22: 250-261.
Allred, R. P., Adkins, D. L., Woodlee, M. T., Husbands, L. C., Maldonado, M. A., Kane, J. R., Schallert, T. and Jones, T. A. (2008). The Vermicelli Handling Test: a simple quantitative measure of dexterous forepaw function in rats. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 170: 229-244.
Allred, R. P. and Jones, T. A. (2008). Experience--a double edged sword for restorative neural plasticity after brain damage. Future Neurology. 3: 189-198. pdf
Kleim, J. A. and Jones, T. A. (2008). Principles of experience-dependent neural plasticity: Implications for rehabilitation after brain damage. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 51: S225-S239.pdf
