Serotonergic Circuits that Control Persistent Behavioral States
Description
Research Focus: Neural mechanisms for persistent behaviors.
Neuromodulatory control of circuit-wide neuronal dynamics
What circuit-wide patterns of neural activity define distinct behavioral states?
We aim to understand how neuromodulators, like serotonin, coordinate neural activity throughout circuits to generate stable behavioral states.
Techniques employed include:
- Circuit-wide calcium imaging in freely-moving animals,
- Optogenetics,
- Mutant analysis,
- Quantitative behavioral analysis.
Speaker Bio
Steve Flavell completed his undergraduate work at Oberlin College, majoring in Neuroscience. He then pursued graduate studies in Harvard University’s PhD program in Neuroscience. Working in the lab of Michael Greenberg, Steve investigated the mechanisms by which neuronal activity alters gene expression to regulate synapse development and function. His work blended molecular and cellular neurobiology with genomic approaches and was recognized with the Weintraub Graduate Student Award. Steve then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Cori Bargmann’s lab at Rockefeller University, supported by a fellowship from the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation. Using a combination of behavioral recordings, genetics, in vivo calcium imaging, and optogenetics, Steve characterized a neural circuit capable of generating persistent locomotor states that last from minutes to hours. He joined the faculty of MIT in January 2016, as an assistant professor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory.
Additional Info
Action potentials and synaptic transmission occur over milliseconds, yet the brain generates behaviors that can last seconds to hours. How do neural circuits generate coherent behavioral outputs across a wide range of time scales? What are the neural mechanisms that allow circuits to generate long-lasting behavioral states? And how do physiological and sensory cues alter the outputs of the neural circuits that control these states?
In examining these questions, we utilize the nervous system of C. elegans, which is a simple, well-defined model system: it contains exactly 302 neurons, every neuron can be reproducibly identified in every animal, and a complete connectome has defined all of the synaptic contacts between these neurons. A variety of precise genetic tools also allows us to manipulate each neuron within this system. By combining these genetic tools with quantitative behavioral analyses, in vivo calcium imaging, and optogenetics, we map out neural circuits that generate behavioral states and aim to decipher the mechanisms that allow these circuits to generate long-lasting behavioral outputs.