Functional analyses of subpopulations of genetically-defined spinal interneurons in regulating different motor activities

Loss of locomotor activity due to disease or accident is devastating to patients and leads to social hardship and economic burdens on the Canadian healthcare system. And, up to now we have little understanding of the neural circuits that control movement. Thus, before we can generate therapeutics to treat motor loss, we must understand the basic circuitry and connections that control movement. The fundamental goals of my laboratory are to comprehend the organization of the neural circuits that control locomotion and identify mechanisms underlying those behaviors. To do that, we employ genetic, behavioral and physiological approaches. We focus on different groups of spinal interneurons and try to understand their functional roles in governing the limb movement.