Hillary C. Schiff, PhD
MS/Specialty
University of Chicago, 2005, Social Science/Psychology
PhD
New York University, 2014, Neural Science
I have been interested in synaptic plasticity since my graduate studies at New York University. As a graduate student in Dr. Joseph Ledoux’s lab, I worked on the synaptic and cellular mechanisms that allow for learning an aversive event. I then continued my training as a postdoc at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory with Dr. Bo Li where I examined learning-dependent plasticity in neural circuitry dedicated to taste. Here, I discovered my interest in taste and orofacial neurobiology which was the subject of my studies as a postdoctoral fellow at Stony Brook University in the lab of Dr. Arianna Maffei. Our study was the first report of a postnatal critical period in the taste system. We found that taste experience during this developmentally restricted period led to persistent changes in sweet taste preference and in cortical inhibition. My vision is to elucidate the cellular and circuit mechanisms underlying experience-dependent plasticity in the taste system during postnatal critical periods and to establish a link between early life nutrition and brain development.
When we’re born, we rely on milk from our caregivers for sustenance, but when weaning occurs, young mammals experience an explosion of new taste experiences. In previous studies, we found that taste experience during this time in development was required for maturation of brain regions that respond to tastes—a phenomenon known as critical period plasticity. Compared to animals with restricted taste experience, those with a variety of taste experience during this developmental window exhibit neural maturation at a younger age and an enhanced preference for sucrose. We are continuing to explore these experience-dependent changes in the brain, animal behavior, and taste preference. We are also interested in other taste-related behaviors that develop around this time, especially feeding behaviors including licking and regulation of hunger and satiety.
My research program is focused on postnatal development of the neural circuits that underlie taste-based behaviors such as sensation, perception, reward, and feeding. I examine maturation of inhibitory neurons and synaptic transmission, plasticity, and microcircuitry in the cortical sensory region for taste, the gustatory cortex. I am also interested in the mechanisms by which taste and nutrient-sensing modulate one another in the presence or absence of sensory and food experience. We are particularly interested in how these processes shape taste preferences, especially for sugar and other sweet tastes. In the lab, we use patch clamp electrophysiology, animal behavior, neural tracing, and fiber photometry imaging to probe these questions. As a mentor, my primary goal is to empower and instill a sense of belonging in young scientists. Teamwork is at the core of my mentorship strategy, and I value open lines of communication and a diverse and inclusive academic community. It is my sincere belief that a safe and compassionate lab environment enables the production of knowledge and the highest quality science.
4166 Postle Hall
305 W. 12th Avenue
43210 OH