Alexander Chubykin
Purdue University, IN·Neuroscience
People with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) often process sensory information differently, and these differences predict later social communication challenges. Brain connections within and between regions of the cortex are also altered in autism, but how faulty wiring leads to problems with sensing and learning is unclear.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Pharmacology
Biology
- Topics
autism spectrum disorder
Fragile X syndrome
Fmr1 knockout mice
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2028
What they work on
- Map the neural circuitry that generates familiarity-evoked theta oscillations in primary visual cortex and identify altered connections within V1 and between V1 and ACC in Fmr1 knockout mice, using brain-slice connectivity mapping.
- Test how the strength of theta oscillations in V1 and ACC relates to performance after learning a visual discrimination task, using Neuropixels recordings and optogenetics in awake wild-type and Fmr1 knockout mice.
- Rescue theta oscillations in Fmr1 knockout mice by restoring FMRP protein only in specific neuron groups chosen with a computational model of cortical oscillations.
More about the research
The lab discovered that when mice see familiar visual patterns, the primary visual cortex (V1) produces theta oscillations, rhythmic brain waves. In mice lacking the Fmr1 gene, a model of Fragile X syndrome (an inherited cause of autism and intellectual disability), these waves are weaker, shorter and shifted in frequency. Similar visually cued oscillations appear in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a V1-connected region involved in social interaction, decision making and error detection, and a computational model reproduces the oscillations. This project will map the circuitry that generates theta oscillations in V1 and find altered wiring within V1 and between V1 and ACC, using connectivity mapping in brain slices. It will record activity in awake mice with Neuropixels probes and use optogenetics (controlling neurons with light) to link oscillation strength to learning in a visual discrimination task. Finally, guided by the model, it will try to rescue the oscillations by restoring the missing protein FMRP only in specific neuron groups.
Why it matters
Pinpointing the circuits behind impaired visual learning in Fragile X syndrome could inform targeted circuit-based behavioral and drug therapies, potentially supporting more personalized treatment for individuals with autism spectrum disorders.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Puja Parekh
University of Texas at Dallas, TX·Neuroscience·Early-career
Determine how two anterior cingulate cortex neuron groups, those projecting to the nucleus accumbens and those projecting to the insula, encode reward- and effort-predicting cues, using in vivo two-photon calcium imaging during an effort valuation task.
Scott Wilke
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Neuroscience
Record how anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) neurons and ACC-to-nucleus accumbens projection neurons represent effort-related costs and benefits during choices, using miniature head-mounted microscopes in freely behaving animals.
John H Freeman
University of Iowa, IA·Neuroscience
Record spikes and local field potentials with multiple tetrodes in the anterior cingulate cortex, dorsal hippocampus, and cerebellum of rats during trace conditioning, to test whether these regions interact in both directions throughout learning.
The school
Purdue University: 43 labs on PI Pages, $932M a year on research, 833 research doctorates a year.
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