Keith Murai, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery and Medicine
Director, Centre of Research in Neuroscience
Our research is focused on understanding how neural connections are formed, remodeled, and maintained in the brain and its relevance for cognition and disease. Our work is recognized for (1) uncovering the importance of communication between neurons and astrocytes in the brain, and (2) identifying novel signaling mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity. In particular, our studies have identified new forms of bidirectional signaling between neurons and astrocytes that regulate both developing and mature synapses and uncovered specific pathways that determine聽where,聽when, and聽how聽glutamate receptors are produced and regulated to confer synaptic plasticity and learning/memory processes.