Chiye Aoki
The overall goal of my laboratory is to understand the biological basis of individual differences in vulnerability to anorexia nervosa and responsiveness to treatments of anorexia nervosa
View latest advances in the Aoki Lab
Chiye Aoki
Our lab has a long-standing interest in ion channels and synaptic transmission,
dating back to the 1985 discovery that central synapses use a previously
unrecognized set of calcium channels, exemplified by the N-type channel, to drive
neurotransmission. Studies of the diversity of Ca2+ channels led to an interest in
long-term potentiation and then to studies addressing more general questions
about synaptic physiology. We have also been fascinated by how the properties of individual synapses contribute to the dynamics of neuronal networks. Neurons and circuitry that generate healthy activity like long-term potentiation and sharp wave ripples also give rise to inappropriate excitation-inhibition ratios in disparate
disorders. What determines the dynamics of firing in and the watershed between
these forms of activity? What role do diverse excitatory and inhibitory synapses
play in shaping the flow of information in CNS circuits? How might neural circuitry
containing such synapses become dysfunctional in disorders such as autism,
epilepsy, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease? We apply our expertise in
electrical, molecular, genetic and optical approaches to capitalize on genetic
discoveries of highly penetrant disorders that exemplify the more general disease.
By combining forces with systems neuroscientists and clinicians, our lab explores
the roles of interneuron-dominated circuitry and neuromodulatory state. We
provide a vigorous bridge between molecular/cellular and systems-level
approaches to vulnerable brain function.
View latest advances in the Tsien Lab
Richard Tsien, PhD
Our focus is “neuronal syntax”, i.e., the rules by which brain
circuits package, transfer and store information. The guiding
hypothesis is that a rich variety of brain oscillations provide the
needed syntactical rules. Oscillations are robust and quantifiable
phenotypes and various brain systems have unique
constellations of oscillations. Every psychiatric disease is
associated with some kind of rhythm problem.
We monitor large-scale neuronal firing patterns and the local
fields they generate in behaving rodents to relate the neuronal
assembly patterns to overt and covert behaviors. The main
target of our investigations is the hippocampus and we reach
out from this structure to its numerous cortical and subcortical
partners. All of our studies involve sleep, since sleep mirrors the
changes in neuronal networks brought about by experience.
To challenge our observations, we use perturbation methods in
both rodents and humans, such as non-invasive transcranial
electrical and radio frequency stimulation to interfere with brain
computation or improve performance in disease.
Gyorgy Buzsaki, MD, PhD
The overarching goal of my research program is to understand
synaptic and circuit mechanisms supporting experience-
dependent stability, and flexibility of long-term memory
representations. These are critical functions of the brain
enabling adaptive learnt behaviors. The brain areas we focus
on–the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex are crucial for
memory processing and are particularly vulnerable to dysfunction in many brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, schizophrenia and PTSD.
We use transgenic mouse models to examine cortico-hippocampal
circuit interactions using electrophysiology and two-photon imaging combined with genetic manipulations, behavior, and modeling. By recording from live human tissue resected from patients of epilepsy, we are parsing circuit mechanisms
underlying seizure pathophysiology. In the long term, our research aims to identify cellular changes manifesting in overlapping cognitive symptoms in these disease states and find potential therapeutic targets for early-stage intervention.
Richard Tsien, PhD
Our focus is “neuronal syntax”, i.e., the rules by which brain
circuits package, transfer and store information. The guiding
hypothesis is that a rich variety of brain oscillations provide the
needed syntactical rules. Oscillations are robust and quantifiable
phenotypes and various brain systems have unique
constellations of oscillations. Every psychiatric disease is
associated with some kind of rhythm problem.
We monitor large-scale neuronal firing patterns and the local
fields they generate in behaving rodents to relate the neuronal
assembly patterns to overt and covert behaviors. The main
target of our investigations is the hippocampus and we reach
out from this structure to its numerous cortical and subcortical
partners. All of our studies involve sleep, since sleep mirrors the
changes in neuronal networks brought about by experience.
To challenge our observations, we use perturbation methods in
both rodents and humans, such as non-invasive transcranial
electrical and radio frequency stimulation to interfere with brain
computation or improve performance in disease.
Joseph E. LeDoux, PhD
Research in our lab research focuses on characterizing the
learning, memory, and decision-making processes that support
goal-directed behavior across development, and how dynamic
changes in brain circuits give rise to these functions. We pursue
these questions using an array of methodological techniques
including computational modeling, neuroimaging,
psychophysiology, and ecological momentary assessment, in
conjunction with experimental paradigms that draw upon animal
learning and economic decision theories. An overarching goal of
our research is to better understand the mechanisms governing
psychiatric vulnerability and resilience across the lifespan.
View latest advances in the Hartley Lab
Katherine A. Hartley, PhD
Social behaviors such as mating, fighting, defense, predation, and
parenting, are innate, indispensable, and ubiquitous across the animal
kingdoms. Research in our laboratory centers on understanding the
neural circuits underlying these powerful behaviors in a genetically
tractable model system, mice. We are interested in investigating how
the sensory information is relayed, integrated, extracted, and diverged
to ultimately cause the behavioral output and how experience changes
this process. Various genetic engineering, tracing, functional manipulation, in vivo electrophysiological recording, and computational tools are combined to elucidate the neural circuits in detail.
Dayu Lin, PhD
Our lab studies neurons, synapses and circuits in the mammalian brain,
focusing on the frontal cortex, thalamus, striatum, and related brain
regions. These diverse networks contribute to high-level brain function,
including cognitive and motivated behaviors. Dysfunction of these areas
is also linked to disorders like schizophrenia, addiction, and anxiety. We
broadly study how different types of neurons communicate in their local
and long-range networks. We also examine how specific neurons and
synapses are regulated by dopamine and other neuromodulators.
Finally, we determine how these distinct circuits are impacted by
experience, including both rewarding and aversive behaviors.
Our experiments use a combination of electrophysiology, two-photon
microscopy, and optogenetics, both in vivo and ex vivo. We also take
advantage of genetic tools, including viruses and transgenic animals, to
characterize and manipulate specific neurons and their connections.
Our recent work has extended to the insular cortex, part of the frontal
cortex that is particularly important for feeding and monitoring of internal
state. We are using the tools that we have developed over the past
decade to study how the insular cortex is wired with the rest of the
brain. We are particularly interested in how specific types of connection
mature as animals progress form adolescence to adulthood. Ultimately,
we are interested in how this normal development might become
disrupted during development and lead to eating disorders. This is
important new area of research for the lab is being pioneered by a
talented PhD student, Sanne Casello.
The brain has the remarkable capacity to change as we learn and have new
experiences. Our lab studies the mechanisms and benefits of this neuroplasticity in two main types of subjects: new parents and neuroprosthetic device users.
Our research has revealed when, where, and how the neurohormone oxytocin acts in the brain to help new mothers recognize the importance of baby cries, and how oxytocin also enables cooperative behaviors between co-parents- including how experienced parental animals might help or teach other animals how to be
successful caregivers.
In collaboration with the NYU Langone Department of Otolaryngology, we have studied how cochlear implants interface with the nervous system to provide a new electrical hearing sense to profoundly deaf subjects. In both cases, we have studied the diversity of individual experiences and behaviors. What contributes to individual variation in social behaviors? When
someone is struggling to care for themselves or others, what mechanisms are
available to help shift their behavior to improve mental and physical wellness? The mammalian oxytocin system interacts with many other neurochemical systems in the body and brain.
Our lab has studied how applied neuromodulation can open windows of opportunity for changes to synapses and neural networks, and we have designed large-scale 24/7 behavioral monitoring systems to make life-long documentaries of how short-term interventions can lead to enduring improvements.
The research in our laboratory is focused on the regulation of protein
synthesis in the brain and how it is involved in learning and memory. We
also study how dysregulated protein synthesis contributes to aberrant
behavior in mouse models of fragile X syndrome, intellectual disability,
autism spectrum disorder, and neurodegenerative disease.
We use a number of experimental approaches, including genetic,
molecular, biochemical, electrophysiological, optical, imaging, and
behavioral experiments. We have recently begun examining dysregulated
protein synthesis in iPSC-derived neurons from patients with fragile X
syndrome, MEHMO syndrome, EEF1A2 syndrome, and frontotemporal dementia.
Finally, we generate molecular tools to study protein synthesis in specific
cell types in order to understand how protein synthesis impacts circuit
function during memory formation and how these circuits are altered in
mouse models of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disease.
These studies include examining mRNA and protein expression to find
alterations in disease models and to identify potential therapeutic targets
for treatment of these brain disorders. For example, our work as resulted
in clinical trials for drugs that target an enzyme called S6K1 for the
treatment of fragile X syndrome.