Research
Imaging the assembly and plasticity of cortical circuits with two-photon microscopy
Appointments
- Associate Professor, Neuroscience IDP
- Neurology
- Neurobiology
- Member, ACCESS Program: Dept. of Neurobiology
- Brain Research Institute
Biography
One research interest is investigation of the mechanisms of synaptogenesis and how dendritic filopodia mature into dendritic spines, which has implications for various neuropsychiatric disorders such as fragile X syndrome.
A second project is aimed at understanding how coordinated neuronal activity arises within developing networks of neurons in cortex.
We are also interested in mechanisms of plasticity and neural repair in peri-infarct cortex after stroke.
Publications
- Kourdougli, N, Nomura, T, Wu, M, Heuvelmans, A, Dobler, Z, Contractor, A et al.. The NKCC1 inhibitor bumetanide restores cortical feedforward inhibition and lessens sensory hypersensitivity in early postnatal fragile X mice. Biol Psychiatry. 2024; :. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.06.023. PubMed PMID:38950809 .
- Chari, T, Hernandez, A, Couto, J, Portera-Cailliau, C. A failure to discriminate social from non-social touch at the circuit level may underlie social avoidance in autism. bioRxiv. 2024; :. doi: 10.1101/2024.06.19.599778. PubMed PMID:38948773 PubMed Central PMC11212975.
- Wu, MW, Kourdougli, N, Portera-Cailliau, C. Network state transitions during cortical development. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2024;25 (8):535-552. doi: 10.1038/s41583-024-00824-y. PubMed PMID:38783147 .
- Rahmatullah, N, Schmitt, LM, De Stefano, L, Post, S, Robledo, J, Chaudhari, G et al.. Hypersensitivity to Distractors in Fragile X Syndrome from Loss of Modulation of Cortical VIP Interneurons. J Neurosci. 2023;43 (48):8172-8188. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0571-23.2023. PubMed PMID:37816596 PubMed Central PMC10697397.
- Chari, T, Hernandez, A, Portera-Cailliau, C. A Novel Head-Fixed Assay for Social Touch in Mice Uncovers Aversive Responses in Two Autism Models. J Neurosci. 2023;43 (43):7158-7174. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0226-23.2023. PubMed PMID:37669860 PubMed Central PMC10601375.