John H. Byrne

Last updated
John H. Byrne
Byrne 2019 v1.jpg
Byrne in 2019
Born1946 (1946)
Nationality American
Alma mater New York University Tandon School of Engineering
Scientific career
Fields Neuroscience
Thesis Receptive Fields and Response Properties of Aplysia Mechanoreceptor Neurons  (1973)
Doctoral advisor Eric Kandel
Doctoral students Dean Buonomano

John H. "Jack" Byrne (born 1946) an American neuroscientist, is the Virgil and June Waggoner Chair of Neurobiology and Anatomy [1] at McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas.

Contents

Career and Research

After completing his Ph.D. at NYU, and a post-doctoral fellowship at Columbia, Byrne joined the faculty at the Department of Physiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he investigated the ink motor reflex of Aplysia californica . In 1982, Byrne moved to Houston for a faculty position in the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology at McGovern Medical School of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). Byrne served as professor and chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at McGovern Medical School from 1987 to 2017. He is currently the director of the UTHealth Neuroscience Research Center.

Byrne’s research interests over the past 40 years have focused on elucidating the neural and molecular mechanisms of memory by exploiting the technical advantages of Aplysia californica . This animal exhibits a number of ubiquitous forms of learning such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning and has a simple nervous system with relatively large identified neurons, which facilitates the analyses.  His lab uses an interdisciplinary approach that ranges from behavioral to molecular levels, including computational modeling and attempts to relate higher-level phenomena to lower-level mechanisms.

Teaching

In collaboration with faculty in the Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy, Byrne et al., developed and launched Neuroscience Online: an Electronic Textbook for the Neurosciences , an Open-Access Electronic Textbook for the study of neuroscience. As a complement to Neuroscience Online, Byrne with the department of Neurobiology & Anatomy launched Neuroanatomy Online: an open-access electronic laboratory for the neurosciences.

John Byrne is the editor-in-chief for the Cold Spring Harbor Press journal Learning & Memory.

Honors, awards, and memberships

Related Research Articles

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The Aplysia gill and siphon withdrawal reflex (GSWR) is an involuntary, defensive reflex of the sea hare Aplysia californica, a large shell-less sea snail or sea slug. This reflex causes the sea hare's delicate siphon and gill to be retracted when the animal is disturbed. Aplysia californica is used in neuroscience research for studies of the cellular basis of behavior including: habituation, dishabituation, and sensitization, because of the simplicity and relatively large size of the underlying neural circuitry.

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References

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  3. "Byrne, John | University of Texas System". www.utsystem.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  4. "INNS Award Recipients". www.inns.org. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  5. "Members' Views: John H. Byrne". Dana Foundation. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  6. "Member Detail". www.sfn.org. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  7. "NIH.gov Study Sections".