This research theme nucleates faculty teams from multiple departments to advance our understanding of the function of neural circuits, building on a foundation of genetic, molecular, and cellular approaches. With a transformative $25M gift, we established the Center for the Neurobiology of Cells and Circuits to coalesce work in this area, including investigating the causes of autism spectrum disorders, teasing apart the molecules, cells, and circuits underlying addiction and reward, and creating a novel technology to map neural circuits.
Neurobiology of Cells and Circuits
Research Projects

Accelerating identification of cross-species suppressor genes and elucidating early pathophysiology in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Cognition and Behavior, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Advanced systems methods applied to understanding and treating cerebrospinal fluid disorders
Cognition and Behavior, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits, Neuroengineering and Neurotechnology

Brain networks: Inferring cortical microcircuitry with electrophysiology
Computational Brain Science, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Computational methods for faster, more accurate, and more versatile segmentation software for serial electron-microscopic analysis
Computational Brain Science, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits, Neuroengineering and Neurotechnology

Developing novel cognitive and neuroimaging markers of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s Disease, Cognition and Behavior, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Discovering the mechanisms underlying brain aging using direct reprogramming
Alzheimer’s Disease, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Human Neocortical Neurosolver for circuit-level interpretation of human MEG/EEG
BRAINSTORM, Cognition and Behavior, Computational Brain Science, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Movement disorders: Rational design of deep brain stimulation with human electrophysiology and computational neural modeling
Cognition and Behavior, Computational Brain Science, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits, Neuroengineering and Neurotechnology

Nervous system wiring by the Robo3 axon guidance receptor and its ligand NELL2
Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Precision TMS: Using EEG and machine learning to predict TMS response
BRAINSTORM, Computational Brain Science, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Rational design of brain stimulation for neurological and psychiatric disorders
BRAINSTORM, Cognition and Behavior, Computational Brain Science, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Retinal imaging: The eye as a window to the brain
Cognition and Behavior, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Somatosensory information processing through spinal commissural neurons
Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Targeting age-related inflammation to slow Alzheimer’s disease: The LINE-AD study
Alzheimer’s Disease, Cognition and Behavior, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

The role of Microfibrillar Associated Protein 2 and Notch1 in alcohol cravings
Cognition and Behavior, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

trans-Tango, a new method for trans-synaptic labeling of neural circuits
Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Understanding contributions of alternative splicing to appetitive memory
Cognition and Behavior, Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits

Understanding the pathogenesis of a virus-induced demyelinating disease in human brain
Neurobiology of Cells & Circuits