Sheri J.Y. Mizumori
Professor
Psychology

(Ph.D. 1985 University of California, Berkeley)

office: (206) 543-2699                                Psychology Department
lab: (206)685-3763                                     Box 351525
FAX: (206) 685-3157                                 University of Washington
email: mizumori@u.washington.edu             Seattle, WA 98195-1525

Mizumori Lab Website
 

Education and Training:

Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Colorado: 1985-1989
            (Advisors: Carol A. Barnes and Bruce L. McNaughton)
Ph.D. in Psychology, University of California, Berkeley: 1985
            (Advisor: Mark R. Rosenzweig)
M. A. in Psychology, University of California, Berkeley: 1983
            (Advisor: Mark R. Rosenzweig)
B. S. in Psychology, University of Washington: 1977
(Pitzer College: 1973-1975)

Professional History:

July, 2007 – June, 2012        Co-Director, Graduate Program in Neurobiology and Behavior
September 2003 – present    Professor, University of Washington
Sept., 2000 – Aug., 2003      Associate Professor, University of Washington
July, 1992 – Aug., 2000        Associate Professor, University of Utah
March, 1995 - June, 1995     Acting Chair, Psychology Department, University of Utah
July, 1989 - June, 1992         Assistant Professor, University of Utah

Research Interests:

Understanding the mechanisms of neuroplasticity as related to learning and memory is fundamental to our understanding of the causes of a variety of cognitive disorders. Our laboratory addresses these issues by using a rodent model of spatial navigation to investigate the dynamic responses of single neurons in the brain, as well as the complex interactions between cells located in different memory-related structures. These studies employ techniques involving recording extracellular signals from many cells simultaneously as animals perform memory tasks. Our studies have examined many processes that contribute to successful and adaptive navigation including the evaluation of sensory input during active locomotion (e.g. Mizumori & Williams, 1993; Cooper et al., 1998), the integration of current sensory information with past knowledge about an environment (e.g. see Mizumori et al., 1999a,b, Cooper et al., 2001) and with internal state information (e.g. Leutgeb & Mizumori, 1999, 2002), and the behavioral implementation of highly processed spatial information (e.g. Mizumori et al., 1999b, in press). More recently, we consider these processes in terms of the flexibility of underlying neural representational systems during shifts in cognitive strategy or task demands (Smith & Mizumori, 2006; Eschenko & Mizumori, 2007). Based on this work, we currently focus much of our research effort on understanding how contextual features of a learning situation modify properties of neural representations, and how neuromodulators such as dopamine come to bias the efficiency of different information processing systems such as the frontal cortex, hippocampus, and striatum (e.g. Mizumori et al., 2004; Smith & Mizumori, 2006, 2007; Mizumori, 2007; Gill et al., 2007; Gill & Mizumori, 2006; 2007). 

Recent Publications:
(email requests for copies of these articles to mizumori@u.washington.edu)

Eshenko, O., & Mizumori, S. J .Y. (2007). Memory influences on hippocampal and striatal neural codes: Effects of a shift between task rules. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 87, 495-509.

Gill, K. M., Bernstein, I. L., & Mizumori, S. J. Y. (2007) Immediate early gene activation in hippocampus and dorsal striatum: Effects of explicit place and response training. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 87, 583-596.

Gill, K. M., & Mizumori, S. J. Y. (2007). Spatial learning and hippocampal place fields: Relationship to neocortical and striatal processing. In S. J. Y.  Mizumori (Ed.) Hippocampal Place Fields: Relevance to Learning and Memory. Oxford Univ. Press.

Mizumori, S. J. Y. (2007). A context for hippocampal place cells during learning. In S. J. Y.  Mizumori (Ed.) Hippocampal Place Fields: Relevance to Learning and Memory. Oxford Univ. Press.

Mizumori, S. J. Y. (2007). Hippocampal Place Fields: Relevance to Learning and Memory. Oxford Univ. Press.

Mizumori, S. J.Y., Smith, D. M., & Puryear, C. B. (2007). Hippocampal and neocortical interactions during context discrimination: Electrophysiological evidence from the rat. Hippocampus

Mizumori, S. J.Y., Smith, D. M., & Puryear, C. B. (2007). A role for place representation in episodic memory. In J. L. Martinez, Jr. & R. P. Kesner (Eds.) Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

Gill, K. M., & Mizumori, S. J. Y. (2006). Context-dependent modulation by D1-receptors: Differential effects in hippocampus and striatum. Behavioral Neuroscience, 120, 377-392.

Mizumori, S. J. Y. (2006). Hippocampal place fields: A neural code for episodic memory? Hippocampus, 16, 685-690.

Mizumori, S. J. Y., & Smith, D. M. (2006). Directing neural representations of space. In M. Brown and R. C. Cook (Eds.) Animal Spatial Cognition: Behavioral, Comparative & Computational Analyses. http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/asc/

Smith, D. M., & Mizumori, S. J. Y. (2006). Hippocampal place cells, context and episodic memory. Hippocampus, 16, 716-729.

Puryear, C. B., King, M., & Mizumori, S. J. Y. (2006).  Specific changes in hippocampal spatial codes predict spatial working memory performance. Behavioural Brain Research, 169, 168-175.

Smith, D. M., & Mizumori, S. J. Y. (2006). Learning-related development of context-specific neuronal responses to places and events: The hippocampal role in context processing. Journal of Neuroscience, 26, 3154-3163.

Mizumori, S. J. Y., Canfield, J. G., and Yeschenko, O. (2005). Parallel and interrelated neural systems underlying adaptive navigation. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 45, 547-554.

Davis, D. M., Jacobson, T. K., Aliakbari, S., & Mizumori, S. J. Y. (2005). Differential effects of estrogen on hippocampal- and striatal-dependent learning. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 84, 132-137.

Mizumori, S. J. Y., Puryear, C. B., Gill, K. M., & Guazzelli, A. (2005). Head direction codes in hippocampal afferent and efferent systems: What functions do they serve? In S. I. Wiener and J. S. Taube (Eds.) Head Direction Cells and the Neural Mechanisms Underlying Directional Orientation. MIT Press, 203-220.

Oliva, D., Samengo, I., Leutgeb, S., & Mizumori, S. (2005). A subjective distance between stimuli: quantifying the metric structure of representations. Neural Computation, 17, 969-990.