Donald A. Wilson

Donald A. Wilson, Ph.D. - I received my doctorate from McMaster University in Ontario Canada and post-doctoral training at the University of California at Irvine. My first faculty position was at the University of Oklahoma where I rose to Professor. I am currently Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Neuroscience & Physiology at New York University Langone School of Medicine and Senior Research Scientist in the Emotional Brain Institute at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric...See more

Donald A. Wilson, Ph.D. - I received my doctorate from McMaster University in Ontario Canada and post-doctoral training at the University of California at Irvine. My first faculty position was at the University of Oklahoma where I rose to Professor. I am currently Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Neuroscience & Physiology at New York University Langone School of Medicine and Senior Research Scientist in the Emotional Brain Institute at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research. My lab and I are interested in how the mammalian brain processes and remembers information. As a model system we focus on rodent (rats and mice) discrimination and memory for odors. Using electrophysiological, behavioral, genetic, neuroanatomical and pharmacological approaches we explore the neurobiology of memory and the role of experience in sensory system function. The underlying hypothesis of much of our work is that memory plays a critical role in even basic sensory discrimination. That is, your perception of the world is not static but reflects your past experiences. Some specific questions we are addressing include: how does sensory experience shape odor discrimination?; how does sensory encoding reflect hedonic/emotional associations of odors?; what role does sleep play in olfactory perceptual learning?; how do local neural circuits and larger regional networks interact to shape perception and memory? In addition, we are interested in how experience early in life (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder), or aging and dementia (Alzheimer's disease) can influence sensory system function. See less