Kenton Hokanson
Assistant Professor, Senior Research
All of the wonderful things our brains do, from vision, to memory, to emotion, depend on the electrical activity of neurons. The development and function of these neurons is strongly impacted by the microbes living in and on us, and this complex interaction plays a role in many diseases. I study how neurons wire and communicate with each other, and how gut microbes directly and indirectly shape their activity. To do this, I use a technique called electrophysiology, which involves placing tiny electrodes near or inside individual neurons to record their behavior with remarkable sensitivity. As the Director of the Electrophysiology Core Facility, I am working to bring this technique to the many other neuroscience laboratories at OSU.