CeNT Seminar (30.05.2025): How does a brain’s gatekeeper, thalamic reticular nucleus, shape sensory perception and mental states?

23 05 2025

The Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw invites to a seminar by:

Professor Zhanyan Fu

Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Title: How does a brain’s gatekeeper, thalamic reticular nucleus, shape sensory perception and mental states?
Date: 30.05.2025, Friday
Time: 12:00 (Central European Time)
Host: Professor Marta Wiśniewska
The seminar will be held in room 00.142

Abstract:
The thalamus is a central hub in the brain that processes and relays sensory information to the cortex, playing a critical role in shaping how we perceive the world. Surrounding the thalamus is the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), a thin layer of inhibitory neurons that regulates the flow of the information and controls brain states like attention, sleep and other brain states. Although the TRN was long thought to be a relatively uniform structure, recent work from our lab has revealed that it is made up of distinct subpopulations of neurons with different molecular signatures, electrical properties, and patterns of connectivity. These specialized subgroups form separate circuits that influence different parts of the thalamus—some involved in basic sensory processing, others in more complex, higher-order functions. By selectively manipulating these subgroups in animal models, we found that each one plays a unique role in regulating sensory salience, emotional learning and memory and brain rhythms. Disrupting these circuits leads to distinct impairments, providing insight into how alterations in TRN function may contribute to symptoms observed in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, such as sensory hypersensitivity, attention deficits, and sleep disturbances.

Zhanyan Fu is an Associate Director and Group Leader at the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, as well as an Associate Member of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research. Her research focuses on synaptic defects in brain circuits using genetic mouse models, aiming to uncover the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders, particularly autism spectrum, and to explore new treatment possibilities.