| Affiliations: | Neuroscience Research Leadership |
| Team Leader: | Debanjana Das
debanjana@tamu.edu |
| Faculty Mentor: | Rahul Srinivasan Ph.D |
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Meeting Times:
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TBA |
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Team Size:
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8 |
| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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exploring the exciting new field of glial biology, oral and poster presentations at symposiums, co-authorship on publications, hands-on experience with animal handling, experience with complex data analysis softwares/techniques
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Team Needs:
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must be comfortable with mouse handling and routinely conducting behavioral experiments with mice |
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Description:
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Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the fastest growing neurological disease in the US, characterized by classical motor symptoms such as slowness of movement, rigidity, shuffling short gait, and tremors. Sleep disruptions are a major non-motor symptom of clinical PD and they develop years before any of the motor symptoms arise. We look at interactions between dopamine-producing neurons in the midbrain and astrocytes, the most abundant class of glial cells, to understand how these regulate dopamine release in the striatum. This will help us understand how pathological interactions between dopaminergic neurons and astrocytes in the midbrain lead to development of PD. Further, we look at how loss of serotonin is associated with evolution of non-motor symptoms in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. |