Michelle Antoine facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michelle Antoine
|
|
|---|---|
Michelle Antoine in 2021
|
|
| Nationality | Trinidadian |
| Alma mater | Albert Einstein College of Medicine Spelman College |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism |
Michelle Antoine is a scientist from Trinidad and Tobago who studies the brain. She is a neuroscientist, which means she focuses on how the nervous system works. She is currently a leader in the section on neural circuits at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
Her important research has changed how we understand the balance of signals in the brain. This balance is called "excitatory-inhibitory balance." Her work also explores its role in conditions like autism. She continues to study the brain's connections and pathways. This helps us understand nervous system disorders, especially autism spectrum disorder.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Michelle Antoine was born in Trinidad and Tobago. She attended Bishop Anstey High School, which is an all-girls school there. After high school, she went to Spelman College. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in both Biology and Mathematics.
After graduating from Spelman College, Antoine continued her studies. She attended graduate school at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Later, she completed special training after her doctorate. This was at the University of California, Berkeley. There, she was a Miller Research Fellow and a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow.
Research and Discoveries
Brain Activity and Hyperactivity
For her main research project in graduate school, Antoine studied mice. She noticed that some mice were unusually hyperactive. She discovered a direct link between problems in their inner ear and long-term changes in their brain. These brain changes led to increased hyperactivity.
Antoine's findings showed that inner ear issues could cause neurological changes. She also identified two brain proteins that might help. These proteins are called pERK and pCREB. They could be targets for treatments to help with unusual behaviors.
Understanding Autism in the Brain
As a Miller Postdoctoral Fellow, Antoine worked with a team led by Daniel Feldman. They studied a well-known idea about autism called the "signaling imbalance theory." This theory suggested that brains of people with autism have too much "excitatory" brain activity. This means neurons fire too much. It also suggested there wasn't enough "inhibitory" activity to calm them down. This imbalance was thought to cause autism traits.
However, Antoine and her team found something different. They studied four types of mouse models related to autism. Their research showed that this imbalance is not the original cause of autism. Instead, it seems to be a "compensatory effect." This means the brain is trying to fix or balance something else. They found that the brain signals actually help to stabilize neuron firing rates. This suggests the brain is trying to adapt and keep things steady, rather than just firing more.
Current Research at NIAAA
Today, Michelle Antoine works at the NIAAA. Her lab studies how normal brains work. They also compare this to brains with disorders. She looks at how brain circuits function in people with developmental disabilities. Her main focus is on autism spectrum disorder.
