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Kenton Hokanson standing on boat overlooking bay

Kenton C. Hokanson

Instructor
Assistant Professor, Senior Research
Department of Microbiology
Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics

Kenton C. Hokanson

Instructor
Assistant Professor, Senior Research
Department of Microbiology
Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics

Research

All of the wonderful things our brains do, from visual perception, to coordinating our movements, to memorizing the lyrics of a new song, depend on the electrical activity of neurons. I study how these electrical signals are generated and transmitted, and how they drive communication between neurons connected by specialized structures called synapses. 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.

Research Interests

  • Neuroscience

Education

Ph.D., Neuroscience; University of California, San Francisco, CA

B.A., Psychology; Pomona College, Claremont, CA

College strategic research areas

Biomedical Science

Publications

  • Green, K.; Purcell, R.; Chappell, P.; Hokanson, K. 2023. Exploration of Electrophysiological Properties of Immortalized Hypothalamic Kisspeptin Neurons In Vitro. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.104338
  • Despande, A., Yadav, S., Dao, D., Wu, Z., Hokanson, K., Jan, Y., Ullian, E. and Weiss, L. 2017. Cellular phenotypes in human iPSC-derived neurons from a genetic model of autism spectrum disorder. Cell Reports 21(10):2678-2687.
  • Exteberria, A., Hokanson, K.C., Dao, D.Q., Mayoral, S.R., Mei, F., Redmond, S.A., Ullian, E.M. and Chan, J.R. 2016. Dynamic modulation of myelination in response to visual stimuli alters optic nerve conduction velocity. J. of Neurosci. 36(26):6937-48.
  • Krencik, R., Hokanson, K.C., Narayan, A.R., Dvornik, J., Rooney, G.E., Rauen, K.A., Weiss, L.A., Rowitch, D.H. and Ullian, E. 2015. Dysregulation of astrocyte extracellular signaling in Costello syndrome. Sci. Transl. Med. 7(286):286ra66.