Research

Each day we experience myriad somatosensory stimuli: hugs from loved ones, warm showers, a mosquito bite, sore muscles after a workout. These tactile, thermal, itch, and nociceptive signals are detected by peripheral sensory neuron terminals and end organs distributed throughout our body, propagated into the spinal cord where they are processed, and transmitted to the brain via ascending spinal projection pathways. Primary sensory neurons that innervate the skin and detect a wide range of somatosensory stimuli have been identified and characterized. In contrast, very little is known about how peripheral signals are integrated and processed within the spinal cord and how these signals are conveyed to the brain by spinal projection neurons to generate somatosensory perception and behavioral responses. Our lab aims to determine the developmental logic and functional organization of ascending somatosensory circuitry and to use this knowledge to reveal how internal states and disorders of the nervous system shape our sense of touch and pain. Our lab explores these exciting areas using new mouse genetic tools in conjunction with advanced molecular, anatomical, physiological, and behavioral approaches.