Sarah Pallas

photo of Sarah Pallas

Associate Professor, Biology

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

Research Interests

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

Publications

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

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 Cover image at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/1932846x/2019/79/3

S.L. Pallas (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..

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

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

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

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

Mao, Y.-T, S.L. Pallas (2012) Compensation and compromise of auditory cortical function after invasion by visual inputs. J Neurosci 32:10338-10351. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/32/30/10338.long

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

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

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

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

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

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