TopicNeuroscience
Content Overview
44Total items
22ePosters
17Seminars
5Grants

Latest

GrantNeuroscience

The role of endogenous chimeric mRNA encoded GasderminD fusion proteins in immunity

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
May 31, 2031

Project Summary: Programmed inflammatory cell death, or pyroptosis, is a crucial innate defense mechanism that protects hosts against infection and orchestrates subsequent immune responses. Central to this process is Gasdermin D (GSDMD), a protein that forms plasma membrane pores upon activation, enabling the release of pro- inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and driving cell lysis. Although GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis has been conventionally understood to be controlled mainly at the post-translational level, through proteolytic cleavage by inflammatory caspases, we have discovered compelling evidence that alternative RNA processing may introduce additional, previously unappreciated complexity in GSDMD regulation. Our laboratories have developed and optimized a highly innovative long-read direct RNA sequencing pipeline, which bypasses conventional cDNA synthesis to avoid artifacts and enables unbiased discovery of native chimeric mRNA (chRNA) in mammalian cells. Using this approach, we have uncovered a remarkably diverse repertoire of chRNA species, including over a thousand unique fusions in murine macrophages and more than two thousand in human inflamed tissues. Among the chRNA found in mice, we identified a chRNA joining the effector domain of GSDMD with a novel C-terminal region encoded by Tmem106a, giving rise to the GSDMD:TMEM106A fusion protein. Functional studies demonstrate that GSDMD:TMEM106A is not only produced in response to inflammatory signals in macrophages but is critical for GSDMD-dependent cytokine release and optimal pyroptosis. Genetic loss of GSDMD:TMEM106A in mice results in reduced cytokine secretion and increased susceptibility to bacterial infection, while in vivo delivery of Gsdmd:Tmem106a mRNA is sufficient for protective immunity. Intriguingly, we have also identified a putative human counterpart, GSDMD:S100A6, which is highly inducible in colon biopsies from patients with inflammatory bowel disease. In this application, we propose a comprehensive exploration of this newly defined class of naturally occurring GSDMD fusion proteins. The specific aims are: (1) to elucidate the subcellular localization, protein-protein interactions, and pore-forming function of GSDMD:TMEM106A during canonical and non-canonical inflammasome activation; (2) to determine the transcriptomic, proteomic, and physiological consequences of GSDMD chRNA expression in vivo during infection, sepsis, and inflammatory disease, and to validate and functionally characterize GSDMD:S100A6 in relevant immune and barrier cell populations. Collectively, this work will establish chimeric splicing as a fundamental source of immunoregulatory protein diversity, redefining the landscape of cell death control in the immune system. By revealing new layers of gasdermin regulation and function, our studies have the potential to identify novel therapeutic strategies for infectious, auto-inflammatory, and immune-mediated diseases.

GrantNeuroscience

BKCa Channel Contributions to Cerebellar Regulated TSC-Associated Neuropsychiatric Disorders

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
May 31, 2031

Project Summary TSC is associated with neurodevelopmental disability including cognitive disability and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that make up part of TSC associated neuropsychiatric disorders (TAND). The mechanisms for TAND remain poorly understood but studies have increasingly implicated cerebellar dysfunction in the pathogenesis of cognitive and behavioral deficits in both TSC and other neurodevelopmental disorders. A shared feature is cerebellar Purkinje cell (PC) dysfunction. Changes in intrinsic properties of PCs results in both motor and cognitive/ behavioral changes in disease models and in individuals afflicted by these disorders. Mechanistic underpinnings of these altered properties remain unknown, but a significant emerging body of data implicate ion channel dysfunction as the primary etiology of these deficits. The current proposal seeks to delineate the ion channel contribution to PC dysfunction and to TAND-relevant behaviors. In doing so, these studies will produce significant both short- and long-term impact. Short-term: These proposed studies will provide a mechanistic understanding of the contribution of ion channels to the neuronal dysfunction in the cerebellum that has been demonstrated to be causally linked to abnormal TAND-relevant behaviors. In addition, we will target specific ion channels both genetically and pharmacologically to evaluate the benefits of ion channel restoration on both electrophysiological abnormalities but also the TAND-relevant behaviors observed in the model. Long-term: These studies, thus, provide a framework for subsequent clinically-relevant therapeutic development for TAND. First, these studies will uncover the ability for TAND-relevant behaviors to be improved upon targeting ion channel alterations in TSC. These studies will also define molecular targets on which therapeutic development can be targeted, thereby potentially providing a molecular-informed pipeline for therapeutic development. In addition, these studies will utilize clinically-available, FDA-approved pharmacological agents to target ion channel function and investigate the potential therapeutic benefits for these agents for TAND-relevant behaviors. Thus, these studies will address a core gap in knowledge to achieve a better mechanistic understanding of TAND and to develop therapeutic opportunities to address TAND. These studies will not only reveal previously understudied and novel mechanistic underpinnings for these behaviors but will provide pre-clinical insights into the therapeutic utility of clinically-utilized agents for the treatment of TAND-related behaviors, thus potentially providing both immediate and long-term opportunities for the treatment of TAND. Moreover, although these studies focus on TSC, these mechanisms may prove generalizable beyond TSC and provide a shared basis and therapeutic opportunity for other neuropsychiatric/developmental conditions.

GrantNeuroscience

Dissecting the role for astrocytes in mediating adverse outcomes of maternal immune activation.

National Institute of Mental Health
Mar 31, 2031

Prenatal infections cause maternal immune activation (MIA), a major risk factor for several neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Consequently, elucidating the mechanisms by which MIA alters brain function is critical for understanding the pathophysiology of these disorders and developing effective treatments. While the effects of MIA on neurons and microglia have been extensively studied, the impact of MIA on astrocytes, key regulators of brain physiology and homeostasis, remain unknown that significantly impedes our understanding the mechanisms of MIA-induced neurobehavioral abnormalities. To address this major knowledge gap, we conducted pilot studies that suggest that MIA increases impulsivity-like behaviors and amphetamine-induced hyperactivity and enhances extracellular levels of glutamate (GLU) and dopamine (DA) in the dorsal striatum (DS). MIA also increased pro-inflammatory signatures of astrocytes, including up- regulation of the Nuclear Factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway and increased GFAP immunoreactivity in DS astrocytes. Collectively, these novel findings support our overarching hypothesis that MIA increases astrocyte reactivity, leading to increased gliotransmission (e.g., GLU), which in turn enhances DS DA release and DA- dependent behaviors. To test this hypothesis, we will leverage the expertise of the research team in molecular, physiological and neurobehavioral approaches and conduct the following Specific Aims: In Aim 1, we will identify the MIA-induced cellular and physiological changes characteristic of astrocyte reactivity. In Aim 2, we will determine the circuit mechanisms by which MIA increases DA signaling. In Aim 3, we will identify the molecular mechanisms whereby reactive astrocytes contribute to MIA-induced cellular and behavioral abnormalities. These studies will enhance the current understanding of the effects of MIA on brain functions and generate new insight into potential treatment strategies for MIA-associated neurodevelopmental disorders.

GrantNeuroscience

Clinical Trial Readiness of MEG Biomarkers in Children Across the Autism Spectrum

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Feb 28, 2031

PROJECT SUMMARY Biological and phenotypic heterogeneity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) poses a major challenge for clinically focused research and interventions. Brain electrophysiological phenotyping holds promise for parsing this heterogeneity. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), findings of diminished and delayed auditory evoked responses (e.g. the ~50ms component, M50 and, specifically, its latency: M50L) have reproducibly been shown in ASD, with correlation to behavior. Additionally, abnormal resting state activity and network functional connectivity has been identified as an electrophysiological hallmark. Such passively-acquired signatures may serve as objective biomarkers in subtyping autistic individuals, including stratifying patients for inclusion in clinical trials according to biology, rather than behavior alone. However, despite their abundant promise, these measures are not yet permeating clinical trial design, nor being utilized in clinical practice, in part because of their lack of standardized implementation and analysis. This proposal seeks to remedy this by using rigorous and standardized, scalable and sharable methods with two leading MEG measures to determine their measurement- reliability as well as their sensitivity to inter-individual differences in clinically-relevant aspects of autism features, general cognitive ability and language and communication. Specifically adopting a 12-week repeated scanning design, mimicking the duration of a typical pharmaceutical trial or behavioral intervention, we will acquire each of these two MEG metrics at baseline and 12-week follow-up to assess interval change. Additionally, we will evaluate test-retest variability with an intermediate measurement point 4-weeks after baseline. As such we will characterize both intra-subject variability (measurement precision) and inter-subject variability which will be correlated with dimension axes of autism features, general cognitive ability and language skills, as well as major co-occurring condition confounds. These studies will recruit a broad range of 240 autistic children, paralleling the CDC’s prevalence data on intellectual ability and encompassing the group considered as having “profound autism”. This is enabled by our adoption of MEG-PLAN, a strategy developed over the last decade in our group and demonstrated to enhance inclusive participation in MEG scanning studies, even in non-verbal participants. Data will be compared to a control group of age-matched typically-developing peers. The two MEG measures will also be assessed for their ability to identify clusters of less heterogeneous neurophysiological phenotype as a novel basis for stratification or subtyping of the heterogeneous autism population. In culmination, this study addresses key “clinical readiness” aspects of utilization of MEG biomarkers for ASD including profound autism, for both stratification (inclusion/trial selection) and monitoring of response to intervention, and will, ultimately, pave the way for the adoption of such biomarkers as adjunctive tests in increasingly-routine clinical practice.

GrantNeuroscience

Chromatin-Based Mechanisms Linking Transcriptional Dysregulation to Genome Instability in Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
May 31, 2028

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Neurons depend on a finely tuned interplay between chromatin regulation and genome maintenance, yet they are acutely vulnerable to DNA damage generated during activity-dependent transcription of long, synaptic genes. Disruption of this balance is increasingly recognized as a driver of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability, and epilepsy. High-confidence genetic studies converge on regulators of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methylation, such as the writers ASHIL and Klv1T2C and the eraser KDNISB, as recurrently mutated loci in NTIDs. The overarching goal of this study is to investigate how dysregulated H3K4 methylation compromises genome integrity in human neurons, thereby contributing to the pathogenesis of NDDs. The central, hypothesis is that coordinated II3K4 methylation safeguards neuronal genomes by maintaining an open chromatin architecture that permits the efficient detection and repair of transcription-coupled DNA lesions. The rationale/Or this study is to define the epigenetic control of DNA repair, which will illuminate a shared pathogenic hub across multiple ~I)D-linked genes. During the mentoredK99 phase, I will define how ASHIL, KMT2C, and KDM5B regulate chromatin structure and DNA repair at baseline and during transcriptional stress. Aim-1: I will use isogenic iPSC-derived cortical neurons with patient-relevant mutations or CRrSPRi knockdowns of these regulators, applying an integrated multi-omic pipeline: CUT&Tag and Micro-C to map H3K4 methylation and 3D chromatin topology. Aim-2: I will use Paired-Damage-seq, and CUT&RUN to chart oxidative lesions, repair synthesis, and recruitment of key repair factors; and RNA-seq to relate damage hotspots to altered gene expression. Aims l and 2 will be performed under the guidance of Dr. Lizarraga and Dr. Morrow, experts in the field of neurodevelopmental biology. My advisory team brings unique and complementary skills, enhancing my knowledge in 3D chromatin structure, transcription-coupled repair, gene editing, and multi-omics analysis. I will utilize these skills in the R00 phase (Aim 3), expanding the framework to include additional H3K4 regulators (e.g., LSD1, KMT2A) and broader neural lineages, thereby developing a comprehensive model. This study is innovative in its integration of single-cell D.NA damage mapping with chromatin topology and transcriptional profiling, enabling a direct and mechanistic connection between disrupted H3K4 methylation and genome instability. By uncovering how H3.K4 methylation prevents transcription-coupled genome instability in the developing brain, this research will address a critical gap in our understanding of NDD mechanisms. This award will enable me to launch an independent research program dedicated to determining mechanisms of chromatin-based processes that maintain genome stability in the developing human brain.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Unconscious Eye: What Involuntary Eye Movements Reveal About Brain Processing

Yoram Bonneh
Bar-Ilan
Jun 10, 2025
SeminarNeuroscience

How the brain barriers ensure CNSimmune privilege”

Britta Engelhardt
Theodor Kocher Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland
Sep 26, 2024

Britta Engelhard’s research is devoted to understanding thefunction of the different brain barriers in regulating CNS immunesurveillance and how their impaired function contributes toneuroinflammatory diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) orAlzheimer’s disease (AD). Her laboratory combines expertise invascular biology, neuroimmunology and live cell imaging and hasdeveloped sophisticated in vitro and in vivo approaches to studyimmune cell interactions with the brain barriers in health andneuroinflammation.

SeminarNeuroscience

Freeze or flee ? New insights from rodent models of autism

Sumantra “Shona” Chattarji
Director, CHINTA, TCG Centres for Research and Education in Science & Technology, Kolkata, India & Visiting Professor, Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain, University of Edinburgh, UK
Jun 22, 2023

Individuals afflicted with certain types of autism spectrum disorder often exhibit impaired cognitive function alongside enhanced emotional symptoms and mood lability. However, current understanding of the pathogenesis of autism and intellectual disabilities is based primarily on studies in the hippocampus and cortex, brain areas involved in cognitive function. But, these disorders are also associated with strong emotional symptoms, which are likely to involve changes in the amygdala and other brain areas. In this talk I will highlight these issues by presenting analyses in rat models of ASD/ID lacking Nlgn3 and Frm1 (causing Fragile X Syndrome). In addition to identifying new circuit and cellular alterations underlying divergent patterns of fear expression, these findings also suggest novel therapeutic strategies.

SeminarNeuroscience

Myelin Formation and Oligodendrocyte Biology in Epilepsy

Angelika Mühlebner
Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht
Feb 16, 2023

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases according to the World Health Organization (WHO) affecting around 70 million people worldwide [WHO]. Patients who suffer from epilepsy also suffer from a variety of neuro-psychiatric co-morbidities, which they can experience as crippling as the seizure condition itself. Adequate organization of cerebral white matter is utterly important for cognitive development. The failure of integration of neurologic function with cognition is reflected in neuro-psychiatric disease, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, in epilepsy we know little about the importance of white matter abnormalities in epilepsy-associated co-morbidities. Epilepsy surgery is an important therapy strategy in patients where conventional anti-epileptic drug treatment fails . On histology of the resected brain samples, malformations of cortical development (MCD) are common among the epilepsy surgery population, especially focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Both pathologies are associated with constitutive activation of the mTOR pathway. Interestingly, some type of FCD is morphological similar to TSC cortical tubers including the abnormalities of the white matter. Hypomyelination with lack of myelin-producing cells, the oligodendrocytes, within the lesional area is a striking phenomenon. Impairment of the complex myelination process can have a major impact on brain function. In the worst case leading to distorted or interrupted neurotransmissions. It is still unclear whether the observed myelin pathology in epilepsy surgical specimens is primarily related to the underlying malformation process or is just a secondary phenomenon of recurrent epileptic seizures creating a toxic micro-environment which hampers myelin formation. Interestingly, mTORC1 has been implicated as key signal for myelination, thus, promoting the maturation of oligodendrocytes . These results, however, remain controversial. Regardless of the underlying pathophysiologic mechanism, alterations of myelin dynamics, depending on their severity, are known to be linked to various kinds of developmental disorders or neuropsychiatric manifestations.

SeminarNeuroscience

Cell-type specific alterations underpinning convergent ASD phenotypes in PACS1 neurodevelopmental disorder

Alicia Guemez-Gamboa
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Feb 8, 2023
SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Self-direction in daily stress management: the solution for mental health issues

Yvette Roke, Jamie Hoefakker
GGz Centraal
Nov 11, 2022

In the lecture Yvette Roke and Jamie Hoefakker will discuss the positive and negative effects of daily stress on mental health. They will also highlight which characteristics are likely to cause more stress related issues, and why recovery time is very important. They will give an understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in relation to daily stress and they will discuss the app, SAM the stress autism mate, developed and investigated (SCED design) in co-creation with their patients with ASD.

SeminarNeuroscience

Myelin Formation and Oligodendrocyte Biology in Epilepsy

Angelika Mühlebner
Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht
Oct 19, 2022

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases according to the World Health Organization (WHO) affecting around 70 million people worldwide [WHO]. Patients who suffer from epilepsy also suffer from a variety of neuro-psychiatric co-morbidities, which they can experience as crippling as the seizure condition itself. Adequate organization of cerebral white matter is utterly important for cognitive development. The failure of integration of neurologic function with cognition is reflected in neuro-psychiatric disease, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, in epilepsy we know little about the importance of white matter abnormalities in epilepsy-associated co-morbidities. Epilepsy surgery is an important therapy strategy in patients where conventional anti-epileptic drug treatment fails . On histology of the resected brain samples, malformations of cortical development (MCD) are common among the epilepsy surgery population, especially focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Both pathologies are associated with constitutive activation of the mTOR pathway. Interestingly, some type of FCD is morphological similar to TSC cortical tubers including the abnormalities of the white matter. Hypomyelination with lack of myelin-producing cells, the oligodendrocytes, within the lesional area is a striking phenomenon. Impairment of the complex myelination process can have a major impact on brain function. In the worst case leading to distorted or interrupted neurotransmissions. It is still unclear whether the observed myelin pathology in epilepsy surgical specimens is primarily related to the underlying malformation process or is just a secondary phenomenon of recurrent epileptic seizures creating a toxic micro-environment which hampers myelin formation. Interestingly, mTORC1 has been implicated as key signal for myelination, thus, promoting the maturation of oligodendrocytes . These results, however, remain controversial. Regardless of the underlying pathophysiologic mechanism, alterations of myelin dynamics, depending on their severity, are known to be linked to various kinds of developmental disorders or neuropsychiatric manifestations.

SeminarNeuroscience

Role of ASD risk genes on maturation of frontal-sensory cognitive control circuit

Hiro Morishita
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Jul 27, 2022
SeminarNeuroscience

Studying genetic overlap between ASD risk and related traits: From polygenic pleiotropy to disorder-specific profiles

Beate St Pourcain
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Jun 15, 2022
SeminarNeuroscience

Synaptic alterations in the striatum drive ASD-related behaviors in mice

Helen Bateup
UC Berkeley
Jan 12, 2022
SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

miRNA dysregulation in embryo results in autism spectrum disorder

Minoo Rassoulzadegan
Université de Nice, INSERM-CNRS, France; Genome and Stem Cell Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
Jun 17, 2021
SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Analogical reasoning and metaphor processing in autism - Similarities & differences

Kinga Morsanyi
Loughborough University
May 6, 2021

In this talk, I will present the results of two recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses related to analogical reasoning and metaphor processing in autism, together with the results of a study that investigated verbal analogical reasoning and metaphor processing in the same sample of participants. Both metaphors and analogies rely on exploiting similarities, and they necessitate contextual processing. Nevertheless, our findings relating to metaphor processing and analogical reasoning showed distinct patterns. Whereas analogical reasoning emerged as a relative strength in autism, metaphor processing was found to be a relative weakness. Additionally, both meta-analytic studies investigated the relations between the level of intelligence of participants included in the studies, and the effect size of group differences between the autistic and typically developing (TD) samples. These analyses suggested in the case of analogical reasoning that the relative advantage of ASD participants might only be present in the case of individuals with lower levels of intelligence. By contrast, impairments in metaphor processing appeared to be more pronounced in the case of individuals with relatively lower levels of (verbal) intelligence. In our experimental study, we administered both verbal analogies and metaphors to the same sample of high-functioning autistic participants and TD controls. The two groups were matched on age, verbal IQ, working memory and educational background. Our aim was to understand better the similarities and differences between processing analogies and metaphors, and to see whether the advantage in analogical reasoning and disadvantage in metaphor processing is universal in autism.

SeminarNeuroscience

Understanding the cellular and molecular landscape of autism spectrum disorders

Karun Singh
Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Mar 15, 2021

Large genomic studies of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have revealed approximately 100-200 high risk genes. However, whether these genes function in similar or different signaling networks in brain cells (neurons) remains poorly studied. We are using proteomic technology to build an ASD-associated signaling network map as a resource for the Autism research community. This resource can be used to study Autism risk genes and understand how pathways are convergent, and how patient mutations change the interaction profile. In this presentation, we will present how we developed a pipeline using neurons to build protein-protein interaction profiles. We detected previously unknown interactions between different ASD risk genes that have never been linked together before, and for some genes, we identified new signaling pathways that have not been previously reported. This resource will be available to the research community and will foster collaborations between ASD researchers to help accelerate therapeutics for ASD and related disorders.

SeminarNeuroscience

Targeting microglia to generate a human-relevant sexually dimorphic model of ASD

Ukpong Eyo
The University of Virginia
Feb 3, 2021
SeminarNeuroscience

Autism-Associated Shank3 Is Essential for Homeostatic Compensation in Rodent Visual Cortex

Gina Turrigiano
Brandeis University
Jul 21, 2020

Neocortical networks must generate and maintain stable activity patterns despite perturbations induced by learning and experience- dependent plasticity. There is abundant theoretical and experimental evidence that network stability is achieved through homeostatic plasticity mechanisms that adjust synaptic and neuronal properties to stabilize some measure of average activity, and this process has been extensively studied in primary visual cortex (V1), where chronic visual deprivation induces an initial drop in activity and ensemble average firing rates (FRs), but over time activity is restored to baseline despite continued deprivation. Here I discuss recent work from the lab in which we followed this FR homeostasis in individual V1 neurons in freely behaving animals during a prolonged visual deprivation/eye-reopening paradigm. We find that - when FRs are perturbed by manipulating sensory experience - over time they return precisely to a cell-autonomous set-point. Finally, we find that homeostatic plasticity is perturbed in a mouse model of Autism spectrum disorder, and this results in a breakdown of FRH within V1. These data suggest that loss of homeostatic plasticity is one primary cause of excitation/inhibition imbalances in ASD models. Together these studies illuminate the role of stabilizing plasticity mechanisms in the ability of neocortical circuits to recover robust function following challenges to their excitability.

SeminarNeuroscience

Autism spectrum disorder: from gene discovery to functional insights

Silvia De Rubeis
Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City
Jun 30, 2020

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting up to 1% of the population. Over the past few years, large-scale genomic studies have identified hundreds of genetic loci associated with liability to ASD. It is now time to translate these genetic discoveries into functional studies that can help us understand convergences and divergences across risk genes, and build pre-clinical cell and animal models. In this seminar, I will discuss some of the most recent findings on the genetic risk architecture of ASD. I will then expand on our work on biomarkers discovery and neurodevelopmental analyses in two rare genetic conditions associated with ASD: ADNP and DDX3X syndrome.

SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Thalamic reticular nucleus dysfunction in neurodevelopmental disorders

Guoping Feng
MIT Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
May 14, 2020

The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), the major source of thalamic inhibition, is known to regulate thalamocortical interactions critical for sensory processing, attention and cognition. TRN dysfunction has been linked to sensory abnormality, attention deficit and sleep disturbance across multiple neurodevelopmental disorders. Currently, little is known about the organizational principles underlying its divergent functions. In this talk, I will start with an example of how dysfunction of TRN contributes to attention deficit and sleep disruption using a mouse model of Ptchd1 mutation, which in humans cause neurodevelopmental disorder with ASD. Building on these findings, we further performed an integrative single-cell analysis linking molecular and electrophysiological features of the TRN to connectivity and systems-level function. We identified two subnetworks of the TRN with segregated anatomical structure, distinct electrophysiological properties, differential connections to the functionally distinct first-order and higher-order thalamic nuclei, and differential role in regulating sleep. These studies provide a comprehensive atlas for TRN neurons at the single-cell resolution and a foundation for studying diverse functions and dysfunctions of the TRN. Finally, I will describe the newly developed minimally invasive optogenetic tool for probing circuit function and dysfunction.

ePosterNeuroscience

Aggression and reward processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Alexandra Hertz, Nigel Blackwood, Grainne Mcalonan, Marija M. Petrinovic
ePosterNeuroscience

HCN channelopathy and auditory hypersensitivity in the Shank3 mouse model of ASD

Ana Carolina P. Castro, Diana Rodrigues, Luis Jacinto, Patricia Monteiro
ePosterNeuroscience

Effect of gut microbiota from children with autism spectrum disorder on behavior and ASD-related biological markers in germ-free mice

Lea Roussin, Ines Haddam, Naika Prince, Lucia Peralta Marzal, Christine Heberden, Elise Maximin, Magali Monnoye, Catherine Phillipe, Paula Perez Pardo, Aletta Kraneveld, Sylvie Rabot, Laurent Naudon
ePosterNeuroscience

Fmr1-KO mouse model, a suitable tool to study Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Shirin Sharghi, Spyridon Sideromenos, Magdalena Daurer, Stefanie Flunkert, Boris Philippe Chagnaud, Marcello Leopoldo, Enza Lacivita, Birgit Hutter-Paier, Manuela Prokesch
ePosterNeuroscience

No intrinsic neurovisceral integration in children with ASD: an investigation of autonomic arousal and amygdala-frontal connectivity

Jellina Prinsen, Nicky Daniels, Matthijs Moerkerke, Tiffany Tang, Stephanie Van der Donck, Jean Steyaert, Bart Boets, Kaat Alaerts
ePosterNeuroscience

Neuroanatomical mapping of the ligand binding profile in various autism spectrum disorder (ASD) models at adulthood

Leonardo Nardi, Stuti Chhabra, Petra Leukel, Clemens Sommer, Michael J. Schmeisser
ePosterNeuroscience

POGZ deficiency in mice leads to ASD-like behaviors with a male-specific increase in sociability

Reut Suliman-Lavie, Sunny Yanai, Sagiv Shifman
ePosterNeuroscience

Understanding the causes and consequences of individual variation in striatal Oxtr expression in prairie voles: a molecular phenotype relevant to ASD

Arjen Boender, Zack V. Johnson, Hasse Walum, Larry Young
ePosterNeuroscience

Validation of the essential role of the 16p11.2 ASD candidate gene QPRT in human stem cell-derived iNeurons

Denise Haslinger, Christoph Dotter, Christine M. Freitag, Gaia Novarino, Andreas G. Chiocchetti
ePosterNeuroscience

The X-linked PTCHD1 gene associated with ID and/or ASD interacts as a protein receptor with RAC1 a key regulator of cytoskeleton remodeling and synapse plasticity

Devina C. Ung, Sylviane Marouillat, Judith Halewa, Frederic Laumonnier
ePosterNeuroscience

The anti-reward center in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs)

Manuel Scorrano, Giulia Sagona, Anna Letizia Allegra Mascaro, Giorgia Targa, Marco Cambiaghi, Laura Baroncelli

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

Characterization of ASD-associated FoxP genes in neural circuit formation

Hanna Yeliseyeva, Martin Müller, Esther Stoeckli

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

Chemogenetic elevation of hippocampal excitability unmasks latent ASD risks in non-autistic mice differing in hippocampal AMBRA1 expression and/or sex

Margherita De Introna, Paraskevi Krashia, Annamaria Sabetta, Francesca Stabile, Livia La Barbera, Annalisa Nobili, Marcello D’Amelio, Francesco Cecconi, Martine Ammassari-Teule, Annabella Pignataro

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

Combined expansion and STED microscopy reveals fingerprints of synaptic nanostructure across brain regions and in ASD-related SHANK3 deficiency

Jan Philipp Delling, Helen Friedericke Bauer, Susanne Gerlach-Arbeiter, Michael Schön, Christian Jacob, Jan Wagner, Maria Teresa Pedro, Bernd Knöll, Tobias M. Böckers

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

Combining on-cell patch clamp with localized muscimol puffing to reveal electrophysiological abnormalities in transgenic rat models of ASD

Nicola Verda, Zubin Rashid, Erwin van den Burg, Sumantra Chattarji, Ron Stoop

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

Early maturation and hyperexcitability is a shared phenotype of cortical neurons derived from different ASD-associated mutations

Yara Hussein, Utkarsh Tripathi, Ashwani Choudhary, Ritu Nayak, David Peles, Idan Rosh, Tatiana Rabinski, Gad Vatine, Tali Grain-Shkolnik, Shani Stern

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

Impact of a cocktail of fungicides at the regulatory dose in Europe on the neurodevelopment of a mice model of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Lucie Salvador-Prince, Dorine Thobois, Jason Durand, Véronique Perrier, Karine Loulier

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

Impaired flexibility during social learning in NLGN3-R451C ASD model

Suin Lim, Carolyn Von-Walter, McLean Bolton

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

Oxytocin ameliorates aggression in a mouse model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Zhuoni Li, Alexandra Hertz, Eilidh MacNicol, Davide Di Censo, Eugene Kim, Declan Murphy, Michael Craig, Diana Cash, Marija M. Petrinovic

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

The role of the ASD-associated 16p11.2 gene QPRT during differentiation of human embryonic stem cell-derived cerebral organoids

Clara Droell, Julia Schwarzpaul, Silvia Lindlar, Afsheen Kumar, Andreas G. Chiocchetti, Denise Haslinger

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

The social behaviorome in mouse models of autism spectrum disorders (ASD)

Sarah Gorkiewicz, Mary Muhia, Christoph Sommer, Marco Dalla Vecchia, Gaia Novarino

FENS Forum 2024

ePosterNeuroscience

Time is of the essence: Exploring excitation/inhibition imbalance driving distinct functional network phenotypes in ASD

Nicky Scheefhals, Nikki Kolsters, Eline van Hugte, Sofía Puvogel, Marie Le Bihan, Chantal Schoenmaker, Ka Man Wu, Dirk Schubert, Nael Nadif Kasri

FENS Forum 2024

ASD coverage

44 items

ePoster22
Seminar17
Grant5

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