Lu chen stanford neuroscience phd

Wikidata item. Chinese American neuroscientist. Life [ edit ]. Research [ edit ].

Lu chen stanford neuroscience phd

Awards [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. UC Berkeley News. USC News. PMC PMID Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Sensory deprivation beyond the critical period has been shown to induce homeostatic synaptic plasticity in sensory cortical circuits. To investigate whether RA signaling mediates these changes in the sensory cortices, we are exploring: 1 whether acute RA treatment alters synaptic transmission in the cortical circuit; 2 whether RA signaling is required for sensory experience-induced homeostatic synaptic plasticity and structural plasticity; 3 whether changing cortical RA signaling has a behavioral impact on sensory perception.

We will focus on visual and somatosensory cortices because robust homeostatic synaptic changes have been reported in these regions. Additionally, we are exploring how RA-mediated metaplasticity may impact Hebbian plasticity and learning with a primary focus on the hippocampus. Involvement of synaptic RA signaling in mental retardation and autism-spectrum disorders.

In the past decade, there has been an explosion of reports identifying genes implicated in various neuropsychiatric disorders. Among these genes, mutations in Fmr1, which encodes the protein FMRP, stand out because of their relatively high prevalence. In human patients, impaired expression of Fmr1 causes Fragile-X syndrome FXS , the most common inherited form of mental retardation that is also associated in some cases with symptoms characteristic of autism spectrum disorders.

Indeed, we found that in Fmr1 knockout mice RA-dependent homeostatic synaptic plasticity is completely absent. Since inactivity-dependent RA synthesis still occurs normally in Fmr1 knockout neurons, cellular events downstream of RA were examined. At circuit level, we are conducting experiments to test the hypothesis that FMRP participates in multifarious activity-dependent postsynaptic signaling pathways whose overall role is to fine-tune synaptic strength for optimal information processing.

One exciting project branching out from this direction is that we have extended the study of synaptic RA signaling into human neurons induced from iPS or ES cell lines. These induced neurons iN are highly useful tools for studying human diseases. We show that RA also regulates synaptic transmission of human iN synapses. I was amazed by the mental world that reflects the real world could varies so much from person to person, and from day to day.

This invoked my curiosity to study how the brain functions in the beginning. And the endless curiosity and wondering keep me going in science. It cannot be divided among brothers, it does not cause a load on your shoulders. If spent, it indeed always keeps growing. The wealth of knowledge is the most superior wealth of all. Science is the platform that gives direction to my imagination.

The unwavering quest to experience the satisfaction you get when your work brings change in someone's life is what keeps me going