Yi Zuo

Last updated
Yi Zuo
Nationality China
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materTsinghua University,
Northwestern University
Known for in vivo imaging
Scientific career
Fields neuroscience
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Santa Cruz

Yi Zuo is a neuroscience professor and researcher born in China. She studies molecular, cellular and developmental biology. Zuo is currently an associate professor of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), where she also heads a research lab. [1]

Contents

Biography

Zuo received a Bachelor's from Tsinghua University in 1998 came to the United States to do her PhD studies at Northwestern University in 2002. [2] Her post-doctorate work was conducted at New York University and the University of Texas at Austin. [3] Zuo found out that she was pregnant when she started interviewing for jobs after her post-doctorate work and when she came to UCSC, her son was three months old. [2] Zuo began working at UCSC in January 2007. [4] Her areas of study include looking at how glial cells possibly disrupt communication between neurons [5] and brain plasticity. [2] Zuo feels that doing science in academia is both fun and challenging because it allows her to satisfy her curiosity about the human brain and have a flexible schedule. [2]

In 2007, Zuo received a Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for her work on glia-neuron communication. [6] The award includes a $45,000 grant towards unrestricted research which used modern imaging techniques and molecular manipulation to better study the ways that glia and neurons interact and influence memory and learning in the human brain. [6] Also in 2007, Zuo received a $200,000 award from the Ellison Medical Foundation and the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR). [4] This award, given out over four years of research, supported her work looking into one of "the simplest synapse in the nervous system, the neuromuscular junction" and how it is affected by the aging process. [4] Zuo received another $200,000 grant from the Dana Foundation to fund a research project which will study how the brain changes after a stroke and during rehabilitation. [7] She was also a 2015 National Award finalist for the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists. [8]

Zuo's studies and research have been published in Nature , [9] [10] The Journal of Neuroscience , [11] The Journal of Visualized Experiments , [12] and other journals.

Related Research Articles

Neuroscience Scientific study of the nervous system

Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmental biology, cytology, computer science and mathematical modeling to understand the fundamental and emergent properties of neurons and neural circuits. The understanding of the biological basis of learning, memory, behavior, perception, and consciousness has been described by Eric Kandel as the "ultimate challenge" of the biological sciences.

Dendritic spine Small protrusion on a dendrite that receives input from a single axon

A dendritic spine is a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite that typically receives input from a single axon at the synapse. Dendritic spines serve as a storage site for synaptic strength and help transmit electrical signals to the neuron's cell body. Most spines have a bulbous head, and a thin neck that connects the head of the spine to the shaft of the dendrite. The dendrites of a single neuron can contain hundreds to thousands of spines. In addition to spines providing an anatomical substrate for memory storage and synaptic transmission, they may also serve to increase the number of possible contacts between neurons. It has also been suggested that changes in the activity of neurons have a positive effect on spine morphology.

Glia Support cells in the nervous system

Glia, also called glial cells or neuroglia, are non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system that do not produce electrical impulses. They maintain homeostasis, form myelin in the peripheral nervous system, and provide support and protection for neurons. In the central nervous system, glial cells include oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, ependymal cells, and microglia, and in the peripheral nervous system glial cells include Schwann cells and satellite cells. They have four main functions: (1) to surround neurons and hold them in place; (2) to supply nutrients and oxygen to neurons; (3) to insulate one neuron from another; (4) to destroy pathogens and remove dead neurons. They also play a role in neurotransmission and synaptic connections, and in physiological processes like breathing. While glia were thought to outnumber neurons by a ratio of 10:1, recent studies using newer methods and reappraisal of historical quantitative evidence suggests an overall ratio of less than 1:1, with substantial variation between different brain tissues.

Purkinje cell

Purkinje cells, or Purkinje neurons, are a class of GABAergic inhibitory neurons located in the cerebellum. They are named after their discoverer, Czech anatomist Jan Evangelista Purkyně, who characterized the cells in 1839.

Mriganka Sur is an Indian neuroscientist and the Newton Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Simons Center for the Social Brain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also a Visiting Faculty Member in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and N.R. Narayana Murthy Distinguished Chair in Computational Brain Research at the Centre for Computational Brain Research, IIT Madras. He was on the Life Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize in 2010 and has been serving as Jury Chair from 2018.

Gordon Murray Shepherd is a neuroscientist who has carried out basic experimental and computational research on how neurons are organized into microcircuits to carry out the functional operations of the nervous system. Using the olfactory system as a model that spans multiple levels of space, time and disciplines, his studies have ranged from molecular to behavioral, recognized by an annual lecture at Yale University on "integrative neuroscience". He is currently professor of neuroscience emeritus at the Yale School of Medicine.

Granule cell Type of neuron with a very small cell body

The name granule cell has been used for a number of different types of neuron whose only common feature is that they all have very small cell bodies. Granule cells are found within the granular layer of the cerebellum, the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, the superficial layer of the dorsal cochlear nucleus, the olfactory bulb, and the cerebral cortex.

Memory allocation is a process that determines which specific synapses and neurons in a neural network will store a given memory. Although multiple neurons can receive a stimulus, only a subset of the neurons will induce the necessary plasticity for memory encoding. The selection of this subset of neurons is termed neuronal allocation. Similarly, multiple synapses can be activated by a given set of inputs, but specific mechanisms determine which synapses actually go on to encode the memory, and this process is referred to as synaptic allocation. Memory allocation was first discovered in the lateral amygdala by Sheena Josselyn and colleagues in Alcino J. Silva's laboratory.

Addiction is a state characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences. The process of developing an addiction occurs through instrumental learning, which is otherwise known as operant conditioning.

An autapse is a chemical or electrical synapse from a neuron onto itself. It can also be described as a synapse formed by the axon of a neuron on its own dendrites, in vivo or in vitro.

William Tallant Greenough was a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Greenough was a pioneer in studies of neural development and brain plasticity. He studied learning and memory and the brain's responses to environmental enrichment, exercise, injury, and aging. He demonstrated that the brain continues to form new synaptic connections between nerve cells throughout life in response to environmental enrichment and learning. This mechanism is fundamental to learning and memory storage in the brain. Greenough is regarded as the predominant researcher in this area and has been described as "one of the towering figures in neuroscience".

Rafael Yuste

Rafael Yuste is a Spanish-American neurobiologist and one of the initiators of the BRAIN Initiative announced in 2013.

Hannah Marion Critchlow is a British scientist, writer and broadcaster. Her academic research has focused on cellular and molecular neuroscience. In 2014 the Science Council named her as one of the ten leading "communicator scientists" in the UK. In 2019 Nature listed her as one of Cambridge Universities "Rising Stars in Biological Sciences".

Yang Dan is a Chinese-American neuroscientist. She is the Paul Licht Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology at the University of California, Berkeley and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator. She is a past recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, Beckman Young Investigator Award, and Society for Neuroscience Research Awards for Innovation in Neuroscience. Recognized for her research on the neural circuits that control behavior, she was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2018.

Brenda Bloodgood American neuroscientist

Brenda Bloodgood is an American neuroscientist and associate professor of neurobiology at the University of California, San Diego. Bloodgood studies the molecular and cellular basis of brain circuitry changes in response to an animal's interactions with the environment.

Paola Arlotta is the Golub Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and chair of the Harvard Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (HSCRB). Her research focuses on the development of neuron types in the cerebral cortex. She is best known for her work using 3D cerebral organoids derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to study cortical development in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Jessica Cardin is an American neuroscientist who is an associate professor of neuroscience at Yale University School of Medicine. Cardin's lab studies local circuits within the primary visual cortex to understand how cellular and synaptic interactions flexibly adapt to different behavioral states and contexts to give rise to visual perceptions and drive motivated behaviors. Cardin's lab applies their knowledge of adaptive cortical circuit regulation to probe how circuit dysfunction manifests in disease models.

Cagla Eroglu is a Turkish neuroscientist and Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Neurobiology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Eroglu is also the Director of Graduate Studies in Cell and Molecular Biology at Duke University Medical Center. Eroglu is a leader in the field of glial biology and her lab focuses on exploring the role of glial cells, specifically astrocytes, in synaptic development and connectivity.

Lauren Orefice is an American neuroscientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital and in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. Orefice has made innovative discoveries about the role of peripheral nerves and sensory hypersensitivity in the development of Autism-like behaviors. Her research now focuses on exploring the basic biology of somatosensory neural circuits for both touch and gastrointestinal function in order to shed light on how peripheral sensation impacts brain development and susceptibility to diseases like Autism Spectrum Disorders.

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References

  1. ↑ "Zuo Laboratory, MCD Biology, UCSC". University of California, Santa Cruz. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Molga, Heidi (2 December 2013). "Interview with CLB Mentor Professor Yi Zuo". UCSC Women in Sciences and Engineering. University of California, Santa Cruz. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Yi Zuo". Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology. University of California, Santa Cruz. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Stephens, Tim (6 August 2007). "UCSC Neuroscientist Yi Zuo Wins Sloan and Ellison Awards". University of California Santa Cruz. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Grusauskas, Maria (15 October 2013). "Improving the Human Brain". Santa Cruz.com. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 Stephens, Tim (26 February 2007). "Sloan Research Fellowships Awarded to Three UC Santa Cruz Faculty". UC Santa Cruz Press Releases. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Neuroscientist Yi Zuo Receives Grant to Study Rehabilitation After Stroke". Jack Basking School of Engineering, UCSC. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "2015 National Finalists". Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Fu, Min; Yu, Xinzhu; Lu, Ju; Zuo, Yi (2012). "Repetitive motor learning induces coordinated formation of clustered dendritic spines in vivo". Nature. 483 (7387): 92–95. doi:10.1038/nature10844. PMC   3292711 . PMID   22343892.
  10. ↑ Zuo, Yi; Yang, Guang; Kwon, Elaine; Gan, Wen-Biao (2005). "Long-term sensory deprivation prevents dendritic spine loss in primary somatosensory cortex". Nature. 436 (7048): 261–265. doi:10.1038/nature03715. PMID   16015331.
  11. ↑ Zemmar, Ajmal; Weinmann, Oliver; Kellner, Yves; Yu, Xinzhu; Vicente, Raul; Gullo, Miriam; Kasper, Hansjörg; Lussi, Karin; Ristic, Zorica (2014-06-25). "Neutralization of Nogo-A Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in the Rodent Motor Cortex and Improves Motor Learning in Vivo". The Journal of Neuroscience. 34 (26): 8685–8698. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3817-13.2014. ISSN   0270-6474. PMC   4147625 . PMID   24966370.
  12. ↑ Yu, Xinzhu; Zuo, Yi (2014). "Two-Photon in vivo Imaging of Dendritic Spines in the Mouse Cortex Using a Thinned-skull Preparation". Journal of Visualized Experiments (87). doi:10.3791/51520. PMC   4181679 . PMID   24894563.
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