Shuijin He, PhDAssociate Professor

The neocortex commands all higher-order brain functions, including perception, emotion and cognition, all of which rely on precise neural circuit assembly. In the last century, the groundbreaking work of Hubel, Wiesel and Mountcastle suggest that the neocortex is composed of iteratively arrayed functional columns, in which a vertical ensemble of neurons form a locally relatively closed circuit via highly specific synapses. This conveys them to the similarity of physiological functions. While functional columns are considered to be a general and defined feature of the neocortex,  our understanding of how precise neuronal circuits are assembled in a repetitive columnar fashion in the developing neocortex is very limited. In our lab, we mainly focus on:

1. To investigate the mechanisms of how patterned spontaneous activity instructs neural circuit assembly during development.

At the stages of embryonic and neonatal development, spontaneous activity is widely present in immature nervous systems including the neocortex, spinal cord, retina and cochlear etc. , where spontaneous bursting firing is generated in distinct spatial and temporal patterns. A mounting body of evidence has suggested that patterned spontensou activity drives circuit refinements during development and ultimately, neural circirts are precisely assembled in the adult brain. This is in aggreement with the learning rule of the Hebbian theory, which is proposed in 1949 by Donald O. Hebb.  In this project, we aim to understand how patterned activity sculpts neural circuits in developing nervous systems.

2. To examine the role of electrical synapses in generation of correlated neuronal activity in the immature brain and in formation of neurla circuits.

We recently developed a method that could efficiently label electrical synapses in the mammlian nervous system. We will use this method to blueprint electrical connectome in the neonatal and adult mouse brains. We hope that this information can help us address important physiological functions of electrical synapses.

3. In addition, we are also interested in potential application of the brain organoids in treatments of neurological diseases.

We aim to find the organoids that are suitable for transplantation. Combined with specific tracing molecule probes, we will image differentiation, migration and cell survival of organoids in the living animals after transplantation. Ultimately, we will assess functional integration of transplanted organoids in the host brain and potential benefits of organoid transplantation in therapeutically treating neurological diseases.

PS: Research assistant, Postdoc and Assitant Research Professor positions are currently avaiblable in our lab.