Professor Martin’s research focuses on the cell biology of transcription-dependent forms of synaptic plasticity, particularly those underlying learning and memory. Her lab studies both directions of signaling between synapse and nucleus, focusing on 1) the role of the active nuclear import pathway in transport of signals from synapse to nucleus and 2) mRNA localization and regulated translation as a mechanism for spatially restricting the products of gene expression to specific synapses within a single neuron. These studies use a combination of cell biology, molecular biology and electrophysiology in cultured sensory-motor neurons from the marine invertebrate Aplysia californica, and cultured neurons from mouse hippocampus, and involve investigation of the function of specific molecules in neurons.