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
- Singer, E, Kim, H, Levine, MS, Treen, N. Cell numbers contribute to cell fate during Ciona cardiopharyngeal mesoderm specification. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2026;123 (2):e2530472123. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2530472123. PubMed PMID:41505519 PubMed Central PMC12799156.
- Östlund-Sholars, G, Lemaire, LA, Levine, MS. Pair-rule-like transcription patterns during neural tube closure in a proto-vertebrate. Development. 2025;152 (24):. doi: 10.1242/dev.205064. PubMed PMID:41217384 PubMed Central PMC12752508.
- Dolsten, G, Wang, ZM, Huang, X, Song, S, Wilson, MJ, Bing, XY et al.. Metadomain and metaloop genome interactions in mammalian T cells. bioRxiv. 2025; :. doi: 10.1101/2025.09.19.677419. PubMed PMID:41000900 PubMed Central PMC12458385.
- Dolsten, GA, Cofer, EM, Bing, XY, Brack, B, Curlin, M, Theesfeld, CL et al.. 3D chromatin structures precede genome activation in Drosophila embryogenesis. Cell Genom. 2025;5 (11):101002. doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.101002. PubMed PMID:40957418 PubMed Central PMC12648115.
- Hintiryan, H, Zhu, M, Zhao, P, Zhang, M, Barry, J, Nanda, S et al.. Neural networks of the mouse visceromotor cortex. Nature. 2025; :. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09360-w. PubMed PMID:40866707 .