Research
The mechanisms underlying neuronal dysfunction in the basal ganglia and cortex in neurodegenerative disorders
Appointments
- Chair, Interdepartmental Undergraduate Program
- Professor, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
- Professor in Residence, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
- Member, Center for Developmental Neurobiology (IDDRC)
- Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Studies
- Neuroengineering Training Program
- Neuroscience GPB Home Area
Biography
Our primary research interests are directed toward understanding the mechanisms underlying neuronal dysfunction in the basal ganglia and cortex in neurodegenerative disorders. The research consists of a multidisciplinary approach combining neurophysiological, morphological and molecular techniques. This research has evolved into several major projects:
- Examining the physiological changes in mutant mouse models of Huntington’s disease;
- Assessment of neuromodulation in the striatum as it pertains to Parkinson’s disease and assessment of new genetic mouse models of Parkinson’s disease;
- Examining cellular cortical electrophysiological and morphological abnormalities occurring in children suffering from intractable pediatric epilepsy.
Publications
- Patel, AL, Venkatesh, AR, Borjigin, T, Li, X, Levine, MS, Boettiger, AN et al.. Multiscale spatial analysis implicates chromosomal metaloops in gene patterning across the Drosophila brain. bioRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.09.02.748911. PubMed PMID:42922523 PubMed Central PMC13684528.
- Yang, LM, Levine, MS, Wang, FY, Tang, JQ, He, S, Feng, TT et al.. Oxoisoaporphine Half-Sandwich Osmium(II) Derivative: A Catalytic Trigger for Innate Tumor Chemoimmunotherapy. J Am Chem Soc. 2026;148 (36):39316-39328. doi: 10.1021/jacs.6c15572. PubMed PMID:42915547 .
- Batut, PJ, Levine, MS. Noncoding transcription controls the developmental dynamics of long-range gene regulation. Science. 2026;394 (6822):402-407. doi: 10.1126/science.aek5696. PubMed PMID:42721265 .
- Lu, W, VanKuren, NW, Catalano, C, Levine, MS, Wallsten, C, Kronforst, MR et al.. Evolution of compound eye cell types shapes visual behaviors across Heliconius butterflies. bioRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.07.22.740151. PubMed PMID:42539069 PubMed Central PMC13419707.
- Mariossi, A, Levine, MS. A thyroid hormone-mediated opsin switch initiates metamorphosis in a proto-vertebrate. Sci Adv. 2026;12 (20):eaeb8106. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aeb8106. PubMed PMID:42127196 PubMed Central PMC13170672.