Kathleen Maigler

Contact Info
kmaigler@brandeis.edu
LinkedIn

Degrees
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, B.S. Molecular & Cellular Biology and Psychology

Research interests

If the brain is a tool that takes in information about the environment and outputs a proper behavior response, why are there so many pieces to the puzzle? My chief research interests are related to sensory system integration- that is how the brain generates a unified and smooth experience and output, despite the limits of single cells. There are many ways (schools of thought on how) the brain functions and the organizational (form follows function?) levels may describe unique functional aspects. To that end I currently investigate how two brain regions (primary taste cortex and the lateral hypothalamus) interact to produce a taste response. The dynamic and distributed nature of the taste system means the responses are not limited to a single brain region or cell, or even a single point in time, but is an evolving, time-dependent process that functions as a part of the larger system (organism?). In my work, it is clear non-traditional, not primary sensory areas, are intimately involved in decision making and higher-order processing, expanding the way we think about the brain and its parts. 

Awards

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) F31; 2022

The Janssen Family Undergraduate Research Award; 2015

Courses Taught

Sensation and Perception: The Doorway to the Brain, Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (BOLLI); 2022

Publications

Maigler, K.C., Buhr, T.J., Park, C.S., Miller, S.A., Kozlowski, D.A., & Marr, R.A. (2020). Assessment Of The Effects of Altered Amyloid-Beta Clearance on Behavior Following Repeat Closed-Head Brain Injury in APP Humanized Mice. Journal of neurotrauma.

Schrank, S., Briggs, C.A., McDaid, J., Maigler, K.C., Marr, R.A., & Stutzmann, G.E. (2018). Human Induced Neurons Model Hallmarks of Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 14.

Lesicko, A.M., Hristova, T.S., Maigler, K.C., & Llano, D.A. (2016). Connectional Modularity of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Multimodal Inputs to the Lateral Cortex of the Mouse Inferior Colliculus. The Journal of Neuroscience, 36, 11037 - 11050.