The main research directions are:
1. Sensory-triggered defensive behaviors and disease occurrence, especially those triggered by mechanical stimuli.
2. Neural circuit mechanism of psychiatric disorder-related behaviors, especially repetitive behavior, social interaction deficits, fear disorders, depression and anxiety. We use optogenetics, chemogenetics, Ca imaging and microendoscopy, in vivo electrophysiology and brain slice electrophysiology, neural circuit tracing, behavioral analysis, in vivo drug administration, and RNA-seq to investigate the neural circuit mechanisms underlying defense behaviors and psychiatric disorder-related behaviors, and then propose new potential therapeutic methods for treating the behavioral symptoms of psychiatric disorders.
1. Xie, Z. # *, Zhang, X. #, Zhao, M. #, Huo, L. #, Huang, M., Li, D., Zhang, S., Cheng, X., Gu, H., Zhang, C., Zhan, C., Wang, F. *, Shang, C. * & Cao, P.*. The gut-to-brain axis for toxin-induced defensive responses. Cell, 185, 4298-4316.e21, (2022).
2. Xie, Z. #, Gu, H. #, Huang, M. #, Cheng, X., Shang, C., Tao, T., Li, D., Xie, Y., Lu, W., Zhang, Z., Zhang, C., Tang, Z., Zhang, F. *& Cao, P.*. Mechanically evoked defensive attack is controlled by GABAergic neurons in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus. Nature Neuroscience, 25, 72-85, (2022).
3. Xie, Z. #, Li, D. #, Cheng, X. #, Pei, Q. #, Gu, H. #, Tao, T., Huang, M., Shang, C., Geng, D., Zhao, M., Liu, A., Zhang, C., Zhang, F. *, Ma, Y. * & Cao, P. *. A brain-to-spinal sensorimotor loop for repetitive self-grooming. Neuron, 110, 874-890.e877, (2022).
4. Xie, Z. #, Wang, M. #, Liu, Z. #, Shang, C. #, Zhang, C., Sun, L., Gu, H., Ran, G., Pei, Q., Ma, Q., Huang, M., Zhang, J., Lin, R., Zhou, Y., Zhang, J., Zhao, M., Luo, M., Wu, Q. *, Cao, P. * & Wang, X. *. Transcriptomic encoding of sensorimotor transformation in the midbrain. eLife 10, (2021).
5. Huang, M. #, Li, D. #, Cheng, X. #, Pei, Q. #, Xie, Z. #, Gu, H., Zhang, X., Chen, Z., Liu, A., Wang, Y., Sun, F., Li, Y., Zhang, J., He, M., Xie, Y., Zhang, F., Qi, X., Shang, C. * & Cao, P. *. The tectonigral pathway regulates appetitive locomotion in predatory hunting in mice. Nature Communications 12, 4409, (2021).
6. Shang, C. #, Liu, A. #, Li, D. #, Xie, Z. #, Chen, Z., Huang, M., Li, Y., Wang, Y., Shen, W. L. & Cao, P. * A subcortical excitatory circuit for sensory-triggered predatory hunting in mice. Nature Neuroscience 22, 909-920, (2019).
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