Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Neuroscience
The brain's outer layer, the cortex, depends on inhibitory neurons that keep its activity in balance. Parvalbumin interneurons (PVIs) are a key group of these cells.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Physiology
Genetics
- Topics
parvalbumin interneurons
PV interneurons
fast-spiking interneurons
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2028
What they work on
- Define the gene-expression markers that distinguish continuous and delayed fast-spiking parvalbumin interneuron subtypes in mouse prefrontal and visual cortex. Patch-seq links RNA, electrical activity and shape in single cells.
- Determine how social isolation changes gene expression, excitability and axon shape in parvalbumin interneuron subtypes in mouse prefrontal and primary visual cortex, using patch-seq.
- Test whether built-in regional differences in parvalbumin interneurons explain region-specific responses to social isolation by correlating gene changes with cell properties in the same neurons.
More about the research
They regulate activity in both the primary visual cortex (V1) and the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which handles planning and decisions. PVIs are linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism and major depression. In these conditions their gene activity changes more than in other neuron types. It is unclear, though, whether these gene changes alter how PVIs fire or what they look like. This project tests that link in mice.
Why it matters
PVI dysfunction is implicated in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism and depression. Learning whether PVIs in different cortical regions respond differently to a stressor like social isolation could clarify the cellular basis of these conditions. That understanding could eventually help guide treatments aimed at specific neuron types or brain regions.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Matthew Pitts
University of Hawaii at Manoa, HI·Neuroscience
Determine how mercury affects selenium-dependent antioxidant balance in primary cortical cultures, neurons grown in a dish, by measuring the activity of selenoenzymes, the selenium-containing enzymes that protect cells from oxidative damage.
Jianhua Cang
University of Virginia, VA·Neuroscience
Confirm that Cbln4-positive neurons in the mouse superficial superior colliculus are inhibitory and direction selective, map their shape and connections, and manipulate them to test whether they adjust motion responses based on surrounding context.
Nicole Ferrara
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, IL·Neuroscience
Test whether social deprivation reduces excitation of basomedial amygdala (BMA) principal neurons, using in vitro electrophysiology in brain slices from adolescent and adult rats to compare circuit maturation across ages.
The school
University of Pittsburgh: 83 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 403 research doctorates a year.
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