Revealing the Functions of Thalamic Populations

Revealing the Functions of Thalamic Populations

Dheeraj Roy, Ying Zhang Guoping Feng Lab

McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

This triangular-shaped brain region is part of the mammalian thalamus and it is important for how we form memories and generalize experiences over time.

Our research is focused on uncovering the role of thalamic cell types and their circuits in cognition. By developing tools to study individual thalamic populations (e.g., the dorsal subdivision of anterior thalamus), we are revealing their functions in normal mice and their contributions to cognitive deficits in animal models of human disorders for the first time (recent publication, Roy*, Zhang* et al., Neuron 2021). This image reveals the triangular shape of the dorsal subdivision of anterior thalamus, which has not been able to be visualized/labeled so far in the neuroscience literature.

red-marked cells in the thalamus

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