Arnaldo Carreira-Rosario
Duke University, NC·Neuroscience·Early-career
Late in nervous system development, neural circuits are highly changeable. Small disruptions at this stage can cause lifelong changes in circuits and behavior.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Genetics
Biology
- Topics
spontaneous network activity
neural circuit formation
neurodevelopment
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Identify the neurons that start spontaneous network activity in the Drosophila larval locomotor circuit and the mechanism by which they trigger it.
- Map how spontaneous activity is organized across the neuron population and within single neurons as it starts producing movements, and test its effect on mature larval behavior.
- Identify genes, especially those linked to neurodevelopmental disorders and highly expressed during this window, that are needed to start or spread spontaneous network activity.
More about the research
Disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy may begin with faulty circuit formation during this window. At this time, bursts of activity sweep through groups of neurons without any outside stimulus. This is called spontaneous network activity. In vertebrates it helps refine neural connections, but little is known about what starts it, how it works, or how it shapes later behavior.
Why it matters
People with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy could eventually benefit from a better understanding of how circuits form. Finding the cells and genes behind early spontaneous brain activity in a simple model may lay groundwork for studying human circuit formation. In the long term, it could inform therapy design.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Lina Ni
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, VA·Neuroscience
Identify the molecules that let newly discovered warm-activated neurons in the dorsal organ of fruit fly larvae detect warmth, testing a candidate new class of warm-sensing receptors with fly genetics.
George Spirou
University of South Florida, FL·Neuroscience
Determine which steps in principal neuron maturation depend on spontaneous activity by suppressing activity at the calyx of Held synapse and tracking maturation day by day.
Arminda Suli
Brigham Young University, UT·Neuroscience
Track in living zebrafish how the redox state (balance of oxidation and reduction) of different cell compartments in optic tectum neurons changes during normal development and after valproic acid (VPA) treatment.
The school
Duke University: 61 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 417 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.