Wei Chen, Ph.D. | Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy - The University of Texas Medical School at Houston

Dr Chen's Research Interests

Wei Chen Ph.D. My lab research focuses on understanding how external sensory inputs are encoded, processed and stored in the brain. We use mammalian olfactory system as a model system because of some unusual advantages inherent with this sensory modality. By combining in vitro slice physiology and in vivo optical imaging, we attempt to integrate our analyses of neuronal circuits into understanding olfactory functions at systems level. We are particularly interested in studying how odors are represented by large populations of neurons embedded in intricate circuits, and how such distributed ensemble codes are processed and transformed at successive stages of olfactory central projection pathways. Toward this goal, a wide range of expertise has been developed, including electrophysiology, voltage-sensitive dye imaging, two-photon calcium imaging, as well as computational modeling of single-neuron and network function. These multidisciplinary approaches provide synergistic impetus to our exploration of the neuronal circuits responsible for the system's remarkable capacity of discriminating thousands of different odorants.

Selected Reading

Xiong, W, Chen, WR. (2002) Dynamic gating of spike propagation in the mitral cell lateral dendrites. Neuron 34: 115-126.

Chen, WR, Shen, GY, Shepherd, GM, Hines, ML, Midtgaard, J. (2002) Multiple modes of action potential initiation and propagation in mitral cell primary dendrite. Journal of Neurophysiology 88: 2755-2764.

Djurisic, M, Antic, S, Chen, WR, Zecevic, D. (2004) Voltage imaging from dendrites of mitral cells: EPSP attenuation and spike trigger zones. Journal of Neuroscience, 24: 6703-6714.

Zhou, Z, Xiong, W, Zeng, S, Xia, X, Shepherd, GM, Greer, CA and Chen, WR. (2006) Dendritic excitability and calcium signalling in the mitral cell distal glomerular tuft. European Journal of Neuroscience, 24: 1623-1632.

Zeng, S, Lv, X, Zhan, C, Chen, WR, Xiong, W, Jacques, SL and Luo, Q. (2006) Simultaneous compensation for spatial and temporal dispersion of acousto-optical deflectors for two-dimensional scanning with a single prism. Optics Letters, 31: 1091-1093.

Nagayama, S, Zeng, S, Xiong, W, Fletcher, ML, Davis, DJ, Pieribone, VA, and Chen, WR. (2007) In vivo simultaneous tracing and Ca2+ imaging of local neuronal circuits. Neuron, 53: 789-803.

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