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Multisensory Integration in the Auditory System

Department                           Department of Neuroscience

Principal investigator          Aaron Wong

E-mail address                      a.wong@erasmusmc.nl

Website                                  https://neuro.nl/research/wong

 

Building a Neuronal Zoo in the Inferior Colliculus

Supervisor: Aaron Wong, a.wong@erasmusmc.nl

Gene expression patterns are important to the function of neurons. The neurons in the important auditory hub inferior colliculus (IC) are highly diverse in connectivity and functions [1], which to-date are poorly characterization molecularly [2], [3]. This project aims to put IC neurons in a unified “zoo” with state-of-the-art single cell and spatial transcriptomics analysis. Our pilot analysis of the recently published dataset [4], [5] revealed spatially variable transcription patterns within the IC, which you will further study and characterize. A natural extension would be to perform histological staining and patch-clamp recordings of sub-populations and relate physiology to their gene expression profiles. This study will lay the foundation for future physiological and molecular studies, and generate hypotheses for further research.

Techniques

  • Analysis of single cell and spatial transcriptomics data
  • Data analysis in python or R
  • Immunohistochemistry and/or in situ hybridization techniques on brain tissue
  • In vivo viral labelling OR patch-clamp electrophysiology in brain slices

Further reading

[1] D. L. Oliver, “Neuronal organization in the inferior colliculus,” in The inferior colliculus, J. A. Winer and C. E. Schreiner, Eds., New York: Springer, 2005, pp. 69–114.

[2] A. C. Drotos and M. T. Roberts, “Identifying neuron types and circuit mechanisms in the auditory midbrain,” Hearing Research, vol. 442, p. 108938, Feb. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108938.

[3] M. Liu, Y. Wang, L. Jiang, X. Zhang, C. Wang, and T. Zhang, “Research progress of the inferior Colliculus: From Neuron, neural circuit to auditory disease,” Brain Research, vol. 1828, p. 148775, Apr. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.148775.

[4] Z. Yao et al., “A high-resolution transcriptomic and spatial atlas of cell types in the whole mouse brain,” Nature, vol. 624, no. 7991, pp. 317–332, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06812-z.

[5] M. Zhang et al., “Molecularly defined and spatially resolved cell atlas of the whole mouse brain,” Nature, vol. 624, no. 7991, Art. no. 7991, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06808-9.