Fan Wang

My ultimate intellectual interest is to understand the neural circuit mechanisms underlying the generation of bodily sensations (touch and pain) and the body schema, and how such perceptions guide behaviors. Generally speaking, bodily perceptions involves the detection and interpretation of both external and internal sensory information to create a neural representation of the physical stimuli experienced by the body and the state of the body itself. My lab studies two critical processes that collaborate to generate body sensory perceptions: (1) the process by which neurons and circuits detect and transform external and internal sensory information into patterns of neural activity; and (2) the brain’s internal states (attention, past memory, expectations) that modulate the interpretation of the sensory-derived signals. We use mouse as model, and combine modern molecular, viral, genetic methods with in vivo electrophysiology, calcium imaging, and functional manipulations in our research.