Sarah Pallas

Education: 

Postdoc MIT PhD Cornell Univ MS Iowa State Univ BS Univ Minn

Research Interests: 

Developmental Neuroscience, Sensory Neurophysiology

Our research is aimed at understanding the mechanisms underlying development, plasticity, and evolution of sensory pathways in the brain using electrophysiological, cellular, and molecular approaches.

Representative Publications: 

Márquez, N.I., P.F. Fernández‐Aburto, A. Deichler, I. Perales, J.C. Letelier, G.J. Marín, J. Mpodozis, S.L. Pallas (2024) The Chilean brush tailed mouse (Octodon degus): a diurnal precocial rodent as a new model to study visual receptive field properties of superior colliculus neurons. biorxiv 2024. https://submit.biorxiv.org/submission/pdf?msid=BIORXIV/2024/586655&roleName=author&msversion=1

Juvale, P., D.B. Mudd, N. Shree, S.L. Pallas (2024) Multiple postsynaptic protein levels are maintained in a delayed form of compensatory, experience-dependent plasticity in adult superior colliculus.  biorxiv 2023.10.06.511220, https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.10.06.511220

Mudd, D.B., T.S. Balmer, S.Y. Kim, N. Machhour, S.L. Pallas (2019) TrkB activation during a critical period mimics the protective effects of early visual experience on the stability of receptive fields in adult superior colliculus. J. Neurosci. 39: 4475-4488 http://www.jneurosci.org/content/39/23/4475(link is external) 

Cheng, Q., M.D. Graves, S.L. Pallas (2019) Dynamic alterations of retinal EphA5 expression in retinocollicular map plasticity. Devel. Neurobiol. 79:252-267. https://doi.org/10.1002/dneu.22675(link is external) (Cover image at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/1932846x/2019/79/3(link is external) ) 

Pallas, S.L. (2017) The impact of ecological niche on adaptive flexibility of sensory circuitry. In "From ecology to brain development: Bridging separate evolutionary paradigms” Eds: Francisco Aboitiz, Miguel Concha, Christian Gonzalez-Billault, Jorge Mpodozis. Frontiers in Neuroscience 11:344. https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2017.00344(link is external) 

Balmer, TS, SL Pallas (2015) Visual experience prevents dysregulation of GABAB receptor-dependent short-term depression in adult superior colliculus. J Neurophysiol 113: 2049-2061. http://jn.physiology.org/content/113/7/2049(link is external) 

Balmer, T.S., S.L. Pallas (2015) Refinement but not maintenance of receptive fields in both superior colliculus and visual cortex is independent of visual experience. Cerebral Cortex 25:904-917. http://cercor.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/4/904(link is external) 

Mao, Y.-T, S.L. Pallas (2013) Cross-modal plasticity results in increased inhibition in primary auditory cortical areas. Neural Plasticity Vol 2013, article ID 530651. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/530651(link is external) 

Tadesse, T., Q. Cheng, M. Xu, D.J. Baro, L.J. Young, S.L. Pallas (2013) Regulation of ephrin-A expression in compressed retinocollicular maps. Develop Neurobiol 73:274-296. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dneu.22059/full(link is external) 

Mao, Y.-T, S.L. Pallas (2012) Compensation and compromise of auditory cortical function after invasion by visual inputs. J Neurosci 32:10338-10351. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-12-370878-8/00101-4

Pallas, S.L., Y.-T. Mao (2012) The evolution of multisensory neocortex. In: Barry E. Stein (editor) New Handbook of Multisensory Processes. MIT Press Cambridge, MA Mao, Y.-T, T.-M. Hua, S.L. Pallas (2011) Competition and convergence between auditory and cross-modal visual inputs to primary auditory cortical areas. J Neurophysiol 105:1558-1573. http://jn.physiology.org/content/105/4/1558.long(link is external) 

Carrasco, M.M., Y.-T. Mao, T. Balmer, S.L. Pallas (2011) Inhibitory plasticity underlies visual deprivation-induced loss of retinocollicular map refinement in adulthood. Eur J Neurosci 33:58-68. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07478.x/full(link is external) 

Pallas, S.L., editor (2009) Developmental Plasticity of Inhibitory Circuitry. Springer-Verlag, New York. Pallas, S.L.(2007) Compensatory innervation in development and evolution. In: J. Kaas (ed.), Evolution of Nervous Systems, Vol. 1, G.F. Striedter and J.L.R. Rubenstein (eds.): Theories, Development, and Invertebrates, pp 153-168. Elsevier Academic Press, Amsterdam. http://www2.gsu.edu/~bioslp/pdfs/Evo_Devo_Review.pdf(link is external) 

Carrasco, M.M., S.L. Pallas (2006) Early visual experience prevents but cannot reverse deprivation-induced loss of refinement in adulthood. Visual Neurosci 23:845-852. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17266776(link is external) 

Carrasco, M.M., K.A. Razak, S.L. Pallas (2005) Visual experience is necessary for maintenance but not development of refined retinotopic maps in superior colliculus. J Neurophysiol 94:1962-1970. http://jn.physiology.org/content/94/3/1962.long(link is external) 

Razak, K.A., L. Huang, S.L. Pallas (2003) NMDA receptor blockade in the superior colliculus increases receptive field size without altering velocity and size tuning. J Neurophysiol 90:110-119. http://jn.physiology.org/content/90/1/110.long