Liang Liang, PhD, BS
Research & Publications
Biography
Research Summary
Our laboratory studies the computation of information selectivity along the visual hierarchy, taking a combination of in vivo imaging, genetic, behavioral, and computational approaches. Our research primarily focuses on visual thalamic circuitry. The primary visual thalamus integrates inputs from the retina with inputs from multiple brain centers, and the thalamic output provides the main feedforward visual information to the cortex. Rather than being a simple relay station, a growing body of research suggests that rich visual computation and neuromodulation already takes place in the thalamus prior to the cortex. However, in contrast to the retina and visual cortex, we know much less about the visual computation associated to the thalamus. For example, it remains unclear how diverse channels of retinal information may be enriched, reinforced and flexibly tuned in the thalamus and how thalamic visual processing impacts downstream visual representation. By integrating our newly developed imaging technologies and several state-of-the-art methods, we will dissect the functional organization of synapses and neural circuits in the thalamus at an unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution, and identify the rules of computing visual information selectivity there. We also work on cracking the long-range functional connectivity of the retino-thalamo-cortical visual pathway to understand the progressive contribution of visual centers in establishing visual feature representations.
Research Interests
Behavior; Neurobiology; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurophysiology; Neurosciences; Visual Pathways; Visual Perception; Computational Biology; Optogenetics
Selected Publications
- Brainstem serotonin neurons selectively gate retinal information flow to thalamusReggiani J, Jiang Q, Barbini M, Lutas A, Liang L, Fernando J, Deng F, Wan J, Li Y, Chen C, Andermann M. Brainstem serotonin neurons selectively gate retinal information flow to thalamus. Neuron 2022, 111: 711-726.e11. PMID: 36584680, PMCID: PMC10131437, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.12.006.
- Mating-driven variability in olfactory local interneuron wiringChou YH, Yang CJ, Huang HW, Liou NF, Panganiban MR, Luginbuhl D, Yin Y, Taisz I, Liang L, Jefferis GSXE, Luo L. Mating-driven variability in olfactory local interneuron wiring. Science Advances 2022, 8: eabm7723. PMID: 35179957, PMCID: PMC8856614, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm7723.
- Organization, Function, and Development of the Mouse Retinogeniculate SynapseLiang L, Chen C. Organization, Function, and Development of the Mouse Retinogeniculate Synapse. Annual Review Of Vision Science 2020, 6: 261-285. PMID: 32936733, DOI: 10.1146/annurev-vision-121219-081753.
- Retinal Inputs to the Thalamus Are Selectively Gated by ArousalLiang L, Fratzl A, Reggiani JDS, El Mansour O, Chen C, Andermann ML. Retinal Inputs to the Thalamus Are Selectively Gated by Arousal. Current Biology 2020, 30: 3923-3934.e9. PMID: 32795442, PMCID: PMC7665906, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.065.
- A Fine-Scale Functional Logic to Convergence from Retina to ThalamusLiang L, Fratzl A, Goldey G, Ramesh RN, Sugden AU, Morgan JL, Chen C, Andermann ML. A Fine-Scale Functional Logic to Convergence from Retina to Thalamus. Cell 2018, 173: 1343-1355.e24. PMID: 29856953, PMCID: PMC6003778, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.04.041.
- In Vivo Imaging of CNS Injury and DiseaseAkassoglou K, Merlini M, Rafalski VA, Real R, Liang L, Jin Y, Dougherty SE, De Paola V, Linden DJ, Misgeld T, Zheng B. In Vivo Imaging of CNS Injury and Disease. Journal Of Neuroscience 2017, 37: 10808-10816. PMID: 29118209, PMCID: PMC5678013, DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1826-17.2017.
- High-speed laser microsurgery of alert fruit flies for fluorescence imaging of neural activitySinha S, Liang L, Ho ET, Urbanek KE, Luo L, Baer TM, Schnitzer MJ. High-speed laser microsurgery of alert fruit flies for fluorescence imaging of neural activity. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2013, 110: 18374-18379. PMID: 24167298, PMCID: PMC3832030, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1216287110.
- GABAergic Projection Neurons Route Selective Olfactory Inputs to Specific Higher-Order NeuronsLiang L, Li Y, Potter CJ, Yizhar O, Deisseroth K, Tsien RW, Luo L. GABAergic Projection Neurons Route Selective Olfactory Inputs to Specific Higher-Order Neurons. Neuron 2013, 79: 917-931. PMID: 24012005, PMCID: PMC3838762, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.06.014.
- Linking Cell Fate, Trajectory Choice, and Target Selection: Genetic Analysis of Sema-2b in Olfactory Axon TargetingJoo WJ, Sweeney LB, Liang L, Luo L. Linking Cell Fate, Trajectory Choice, and Target Selection: Genetic Analysis of Sema-2b in Olfactory Axon Targeting. Neuron 2013, 78: 673-686. PMID: 23719164, PMCID: PMC3727417, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.03.022.
- The olfactory circuit of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogasterLiang L, Luo L. The olfactory circuit of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Science China Life Sciences 2010, 53: 472-484. PMID: 20596914, DOI: 10.1007/s11427-010-0099-z.
- The Q System: A Repressible Binary System for Transgene Expression, Lineage Tracing, and Mosaic AnalysisPotter CJ, Tasic B, Russler EV, Liang L, Luo L. The Q System: A Repressible Binary System for Transgene Expression, Lineage Tracing, and Mosaic Analysis. Cell 2010, 141: 536-548. PMID: 20434990, PMCID: PMC2883883, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2010.02.025.