Richard Daniel Mooney
George Barth Geller Professor for Research in Neurobiology
Overview
Our broad research goal is to understand the neural mechanisms by which experience guides learning, behavior, and perception. Our group explores the structure and function of sensorimotor circuits important to learned vocal communication in the songbird and to auditory-motor integration in the mouse. In the course of these explorations, my research group has developed a wide range of technical expertise in both avian and mouse models, including in vivo multiphoton neuronal imaging, chronic recording of neural activity in freely behaving animals, in vivo and in vitro intracellular recordings from identified neurons, and manipulation of neuronal activity using electrical, chemical and optogenetic methods. Our group also has extensive experience with viral transgenic methods to manipulate gene expression, including genes implicated in human neurological disorders. Together, these methods provide a broad technical approach to identify the neural circuit mechanisms important to vocal learning, auditory perception and communication.
Selected Grants
Neurobiology Training Program awarded by National Institutes of Health (Principal Investigator). 2019 to 2024
Using Genetic Tools to Dissect Neural Circuits for Social Communication awarded by National Institutes of Health (Co-Principal Investigator). 2018 to 2023
Medical Scientist Training Program awarded by National Institutes of Health (Mentor). 1997 to 2022
Training Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology awarded by National Institutes of Health (Mentor). 2001 to 2022
Auditory cortical processing of self-generated vocalizations awarded by National Institutes of Health (Principal Investigator). 2019 to 2022
Mechanisms for internally and externally guided sensorimotor learning awarded by National Institutes of Health (Principal Investigator). 2016 to 2021
Neural Codes for Vocal Sequences awarded by National Science Foundation (Principal Investigator). 2014 to 2020
Organization and Function of Cellular Structure awarded by National Institutes of Health (Mentor). 1975 to 2020
Organization and Function of Cellular Structure awarded by National Institutes of Health (Mentor). 1975 to 2020
Representation of self and other in mirror neurons in the song sparrow awarded by (Principal Investigator). 2017 to 2020
Pages
Kearney, Matthew Gene, et al. “Discrete Evaluative and Premotor Circuits Enable Vocal Learning in Songbirds..” Neuron, vol. 104, no. 3, Nov. 2019, pp. 559-575.e6. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2019.07.025. Full Text
Tschida, Katherine, et al. “A Specialized Neural Circuit Gates Social Vocalizations in the Mouse..” Neuron, vol. 103, no. 3, Aug. 2019, pp. 459-472.e4. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2019.05.025. Full Text
Tanaka, Masashi, et al. “A mesocortical dopamine circuit enables the cultural transmission of vocal behaviour..” Nature, vol. 563, no. 7729, Nov. 2018, pp. 117–20. Pubmed, doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0636-7. Full Text
Schneider, David M., et al. “A cortical filter that learns to suppress the acoustic consequences of movement..” Nature, vol. 561, no. 7723, Sept. 2018, pp. 391–95. Epmc, doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0520-5. Full Text
Schneider, David M., and Richard Mooney. “How Movement Modulates Hearing..” Annu Rev Neurosci, vol. 41, July 2018, pp. 553–72. Pubmed, doi:10.1146/annurev-neuro-072116-031215. Full Text
Lu, Jinghao, et al. “MIN1PIPE: A Miniscope 1-Photon-Based Calcium Imaging Signal Extraction Pipeline..” Cell Rep, vol. 23, no. 12, June 2018, pp. 3673–84. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.05.062. Full Text
Mooney, Richard. “The Song Remains the Same..” Trends Neurosci, vol. 41, no. 4, Apr. 2018, pp. 167–70. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.tins.2018.02.006. Full Text
Hisey, Erin, et al. “A common neural circuit mechanism for internally guided and externally reinforced forms of motor learning..” Nat Neurosci, vol. 21, no. 4, Apr. 2018, pp. 589–97. Pubmed, doi:10.1038/s41593-018-0092-6. Full Text
Roberts, Todd F., et al. “Identification of a motor-to-auditory pathway important for vocal learning..” Nat Neurosci, vol. 20, no. 7, July 2017, pp. 978–86. Pubmed, doi:10.1038/nn.4563. Full Text
Hamaguchi, Kosuke, et al. “A Distributed Recurrent Network Contributes to Temporally Precise Vocalizations..” Neuron, vol. 91, no. 3, Aug. 2016, pp. 680–93. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2016.06.019. Full Text