Xu Laboratory

Xu Laboratory is interested in how neurons respond to external stimuli and induce changes in their neuronal properties that eventually lead to the encoding of the information in the neural circuit. This type of activity-dependent long lasting changes is generally called neural plasticity. One form of neural plasticity, the long-lasting changes in synaptic strength, synaptic plasticity is thought to be the cellular substrate for learning and memory. Membrane excitability and intracellular environment respond to incoming neural activity and fluctuate at different temporal domains with potentially different spatial constraints. These fluctuations can influence the induction and expression of synaptic plasticity.

The goal is to understand mechanisms of neural plasticity essential for information processing and storage in the brain and their dysfunction in diseases such as autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and mental retardation.

We are interested in understanding how signaling scaffolds in the postsynaptic compartment of neurons organize and orchestrate signaling events that lead to the expression of synaptic plasticity important for learning and memory.

We are also interested in understanding how regulating calcium homeostasis via activity-dependent mechanisms modulates synaptic plasticity and neuronal excitability; consequently modulate animals’ learning ability.