Research研究方向

Neural circuits formed by vast numbers of neurons interconnected through synapses support cognitive processes in the brain and regulate physiological functions throughout the body. Their structural and functional complexity spans multiple spatial and temporal scales, posing a major challenge to understanding the principles of brain function. The Laboratory of Neurophysics and Neurophysiology develops and applies frontier technologies, including cross-scale microscopy, to resolve complex structures and dynamic changes from synapses to circuits. Our goals are to decipher the computational rules and biological mechanisms of learning, identify the fundamental principles and neural pathways that regulate organ physiology, and provide new perspectives on disease mechanisms and diagnostic and therapeutic technologies.

1. Cross-Scale Analysis of Neural Systems

   We resolve the molecular organization and functional states of synapses at submolecular resolution and map mesoscale neural connectivity from the brain to the whole body at subcellular resolution. On this basis, we build cross-scale structure-function foundation models of synapses and circuits. These models provide a precise data foundation for understanding cognitive and physiological mechanisms and related diseases, and may inform structural frameworks for brain-inspired computing and embodied intelligence.

2. Mechanisms of Synaptic Plasticity and Biological Learning

   Learning and memory are fundamental processes of intelligence. They depend on synaptic plasticity and its interaction with neuronal network activity to form a complex, ordered dynamical system. By combining cross-scale imaging with other advanced methods, we investigate the rules and cellular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in cultured neurons and identify the circuit representations and dynamical principles of biological learning in living animals.

3. Frontier Technologies for Neural Circuit Analysis

   Through interdisciplinary collaboration, we develop and apply technologies for resolving the structure and function of neural synapses and circuits. These include cryo-Electron Tomography (cryoET), Correlative Light and Electron Microscopy (CLEM), Volumetric Imaging with Synchronized on-the-fly-scan and Readout (VISoR), ultra-compact head-mounted fluorescence microscopes (TINIscope), Multi-channel Fiber photometry (MuFi), and AI-based algorithms for large-scale data analysis.

4. Organizational Principles of Primate Neural Circuits

   We use non-human primates, represented by macaques, as research models. At the whole-brain scale, we map mesoscale neural connectivity at axonal resolution, compare the cross-species evolutionary organization of connections in key brain regions, and ultimately work toward a connectivity map of the human brain.

5. Connectivity Between Peripheral Nerves and Organs

   We focus on the peripheral nervous system as the basis of bidirectional brain-body communication. At subcellular resolution, we resolve the fine neural structures that carry sensory information from the body and regulate visceral activity. We map mesoscale connectivity across different types of peripheral nerves and investigate the neural mechanisms of brain-body interaction and their roles in related diseases.

6. Behavioral Emergence and Neural Mechanisms of Social Learning

   Social interaction is an essential form of information exchange in group-living animals. We establish social learning tasks and combine them with calcium imaging, fiber photometry, optogenetics and chemogenetics, and neural circuit tracing to investigate the neural mechanisms through which social interaction and learning behavior influence one another in mice.