Henry Yin, Ph.D., PI
3012 Genome Sciences Research Building II
Box 91050, Duke University
Durham, NC 27708
Phone: 919 660 5781
Fax: 919 684 5778
Email: hy43@duke.edu
We study neural circuits underlying the learning and generation of actions. We use in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics, and quantitative analysis of behavior in rodents.
Current research in the lab encompasses three areas:
1. The analysis of cortico-basal ganglia networks using wired and wireless in vivo stimulation and recording in awake, behaving rodents combined with permanent and reversible lesions, optogenetics, and local pharmacological manipulations.
2. The analysis of voluntary behavior using operant procedures as well as video-based and automatic parsing of natural behaviors.
3. The cellular and molecular mechanisms of synaptic transmission and plasticity in the basal ganglia, a set of brain structures critical for the generation and selection of voluntary behaviors: e.g. the contributions of dopamine, adenosine, opioids, and endocanabinoids to glutamatergic and GABAergic transmission and plasticity.
Teaching
Brain and Behavior
Gateway course for the undergraduate neuroscience major
Fall every year