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Dr Adil Khan
Applications are invited for a postdoctoral researcher position funded by the Wellcome Trust. The successful applicant will pursue a research project with the goal of understanding how brain-wide neural circuits lead to flexible cognitive behaviours in mice. The techniques employed will include chronic in-vivo two photon calcium imaging of multiple cell classes, targeted optogenetic manipulations, viral vector based functional circuit mapping, and quantitative mouse behaviour. The successful applicant will benefit from the collaborative culture of the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s College London and will have the opportunity to develop collaborations with groups studying animal models of brain disorders. Candidates must have a strong research track record. Experience with in-vivo two photon imaging, rodent behaviour and analysis of complex datasets will be highly valued. Candidates with programming skills are encouraged to apply.
Anatomical and functional characterization of the neuronal circuits underlying ejaculation
During sexual behavior, copulation related sensory information and modulatory signals from the brain must be integrated and converted into the motor and secretory outputs that characterize ejaculation (Lenschow and Lima, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2020). Studies in humans and rats suggest the existence of interneurons in the lumbar spinal cord that mediates that step: the spinal ejaculation generator (SEG). My work aimed at gaining mechanistic insights about the neuronal circuits controlling ejaculation thereby applying cutting-edge techniques. More specifically, we mapped anatomically and functionally the spinal circuit for ejaculation starting from the main muscle being involved in sperm expulsion: the bulbospongiosus muscle (BSM). Combining viral tracing strategies with electrophysiology, we specifically show that the BSM motoneurons receive direct synaptic input from a group of interneurons located in between lumbar segment 2 and 3 and expressing the peptide galanin. Electrically and optogenetically activating the galanin positive cells (the SEG) lead to the activation of the motoneurons innervating the BSM and the muscle itself. Finally, inhibition of SEG cells using DREADDs (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) in sexual behaving animals is currently conducted to reveal whether ejaculation can be prevented.
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