Affiliation: Princeton University

As a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Dr. Jessica Verpeut studies the influence of cerebellar activity on neocortical structure and behavior in the laboratory of Professor Samuel S.-H. Wang. The cerebellum has classically been known to fine-tune movement and action, but its role in cognitive and flexible behaviors is poorly understood. In integrating neural circuit dissection with unsupervised behavior classification, Jessica aims to understand how cerebellar disruption modulates distal neocortical structure and behavior. She has developed a novel pipeline to manipulate neural signaling, quantify behavioral tracking using machine learning, and analyze neural activation by whole-brain light-sheet microscopy and tissue-clearing techniques. Describing how the cerebellum guides the maturation of the neocortex will help to further understand intricate details of animal behavior in neurodevelopmental disorders. Jessica completed her PhD at Rutgers University in Endocrinology and Animal Biosciences in 2015. In her dissertation, she described how a ketogenic diet fed during development could protect the noradrenergic system and resolve behavioral deficits in a mouse model with cerebellar dysfunction, the Engrailed-2 null mouse. In 2010, Jessica earned a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University.