신경회로 및 퇴행성뇌질환 연구실

Diffuse modulatory system is a group of brain stem nuclei synthesizing modulatory neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine) and their axonal projections. While diffuse modulatory system contains only a small set of neurons in the brain stem, it forms highly dense axonal arborization across the brain, establishing widely spread modulatory synapses. Synaptic transmission at these synapses plays a crucial role for volitional movement, reward-related behaviors, motivation, emotion, mood, arousal, sleep-wake cycle, learning, and memory, whereas the dysfunction of these synapses causes a variety of psychiatric and neurological disorders. Despite this significance, the true nature of brain-wide spatial and functional features of modulatory synapses remains poorly understood due to the difficulties defining functional modulatory synapses at the molecular and physiological levels. Our research focuses on diffuse modulatory systems in the brain, including dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), and norepinephrine (NE) systems. Our research goal is to elucidate the essential features and physiological functions of diffuse modulatory systems and modulatory synapses in health and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). We hope that our findings will provide both fundamental knowledge and far-reaching framework for understanding the functional significance of diffuse modulatory system in regulating neural circuits and animal behaviors in the brain. This information will also open numerous doors to a deeper mechanistic understanding of ‘true’ synaptic actions at modulatory synapses in health and disease. Our further hope is that the mechanistic insights gained from our research will translate into new strategies that can better