Research Areas
Understanding the neural circuits underlying fear and stress-related mental disorders is the important emerging field in neuroscience research. The dissection of the interplay between these functional circuits and peripheral systems will emerge knowledge of causal mechanisms subserving mental disorder mechanisms presently hidden from view. It will also contribute to the identification of possible biomarkers and to the development of new cognitive or behavioral intervention targets for mental disorders. Dr. Liping Wang’s research interest focuses on: 1) dissecting the mechanisms of subcortical neural circuits involved in innate behaviours, including fear, feeding and sleeping; 2) elucidating the structural and functional interactions between central nervous and peripheral systems under physiological and pathological conditions, and their comorbidity with mental disorders; 3) developing new research tools and technologies for fine behavioural identification and functional dissection of neural circuits.
Education
06.2005-04.2008, Postdoctoral research at the Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University with Prof. Dr. Karl Deisseroth
08.2002-07.2005, PhD degree in medical neuroscience at Charite -Universitatsmedizin Berlin with Prof. Dr. Helmut Kettenmann at the Department of Cellular Neurosciences, Max-Delbruck-Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC)
Experience
Work Experience
Director of Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
Director of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science (SHKIBS)
Publications
Selected Publications
1. Tseng Y-T#, Schaefke B#, Wei P#, Wang L#*. Defensive responses: behaviour, the brain and the body. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 24(2023): 655–671.
2. Liu Q#, Yang X#, Luo M#, Su J, Zhong J, Li X, Chan RHM, Wang L*. An Iterative Neural Processing Sequence Orchestrates Feeding. Neuron, 111(2023): 1651-1665.e5.
3. Tseng Y-T#, Zhao B#, Chen S#, Ye J, Liu J, Liang L, Ding H, Schaefke B, Yang Q, Wang Lina, Wang F, Wang L*. The subthalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons mediate adaptive REM-sleep responses to threat. Neuron 110(2022): 1223-1239.e8.
4. Zhong C#, Wang L#, Cao Y, Sun C, Huang J, Wang X, Pan S, He S, Huang K, Lu Z, Xu F, Lu Y*, Wang L*. A neural circuit from the dorsal CA3 to the dorsomedial hypothalamus mediates balance between risk exploration and defense. Cell Reports 41(2022):111570.
5. Jia X, Chen S, Li X, Tao S, Lai J, Liu H, Huang K, Tian Y, Wei P, Yang F, Lu Z, Chen Z, Liu X an, Xu F, Wang L*. Divergent neurocircuitry dissociates two components of the stress response: glucose mobilization and anxiety-like behavior. Cell Reports 41(2022):111586.
6. Huang K#, Han Y#, Chen K, Pan H, Zhao G, Yi W, Li X, Liu S, Wei P*, Wang L*. A hierarchical 3D-motion learning framework for animal spontaneous behavior mapping. Nature Communications 12(2021):2784.
7. Yang F#*, Liu Y#, Chen S, Dai Z, Yang D, Gao D, Shao J, Wang Y, Wang T, Zhang Z, Zhang L, Lu WW, Li Y*, Wang L*. A GABAergic neural circuit in the ventromedial hypothalamus mediates chronic stress–induced bone loss. The Journal of Clinical Investigation 130(2020):6539–6554.
8. Xiao Q#, Zhou X#, Wei P#, Xie L, Han Y, Wang J, Cai A, Xu F, Tu J*, Wang L*. A new GABAergic somatostatin projection from the BNST onto accumbal parvalbumin neurons controls anxiety. Molecular Psychiatry 26(2020):4719–4741.
9. Zhou Z#, Liu X#, Chen S, Zhang Z, Liu Y, Montardy Q, Tang Y, Wei P, Liu N, Li L, Song R, Lai J, He X, Chen C, Bi G, Feng G, Xu F*, Wang L*. A VTA GABAergic Neural Circuit Mediates Visually Evoked Innate Defensive Responses. Neuron 103(2019):473-488.e6.
10. Li Lei#, Feng X#, Zhou Z#, Zhang H, Shi Q, Lei Z, Shen P, Yang Q, Zhao B, Chen S, Li Lin, Zhang Y, Wen P, Lu Z, Li X, Xu F, Wang L*. Stress Accelerates Defensive Responses to Looming in Mice and Involves a Locus Coeruleus-Superior Colliculus Projection. Current Biology 28(2018):859-871.e5.
11. Lu Y#, Zhong C#, Wang L, Wei P, He W, Huang K, Zhang Y, Zhan Y, Feng G, Wang L*. Optogenetic dissection of ictal propagation in the hippocampal–entorhinal cortex structures. Nature Communications 7(2016):10962.
12. Wei P#, Liu N#, Zhang Z#, Liu X, Tang Y, He X, Wu B, Zhou Z, Liu Y, Li J, Zhang Y, Zhou X, Xu L, Chen L, Bi G, Hu X, Xu F, Wang L*. Processing of visually evoked innate fear by a non-canonical thalamic pathway. Nature Communications 6(2015):6756.
13. Lu Y, Li Y, Pan J, Wei P, Liu N, Wu B, Cheng J, Lu C, Wang L*. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) /poly(styrenesulfonate)-poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(acrylic acid) interpenetrating polymer networks for improving optrode-neural tissue interface in optogenetics. Biomaterials 33(2012):378–394.
14. Zhang F#, Wang L#, Brauner M, Liewald JF, Kay K, Watzke N, Wood PG, Bamberg E, Nagel G, Gottschalk A, Deisseroth K*. Multimodal fast optical interrogation of neural circuitry. Nature 446(2007):633–639.
15. Zhang F#, Wang L#, Boyden ES, Deisseroth K*. Channelrhodopsin-2 and optical control of excitable cells. Nature Methods 3(2006):785–792.