Ringstad Lab
Principal Investigator: Niels Ringstad
Institution: New York University (New York, NY)
Primary Subfield: Genetics/Genomics
Recruitment Status: ✅ Hiring Postdocs
Research Focus
PROJECT SUMMARY Neuromodulators such as serotonin and neuropeptides can exert widespread and lasting effects on neural circuits and behavior. This mode of signaling is critical for brain function. Dysfunctional neuromodulator signaling causes a host neurological and psychiatric disorders, and neuromodulator signaling pathways are targets of clinically important therapeutics and drugs of abuse. The goal of this project is to advance understanding of molecular mechanisms that regulate the development and function of neuromodulatory systems that control behavior. For this, we study the roundworm C. elegans, whose small and accessible nervous system is endowed with most of the neuromodulators found in the human brain. Many behaviors of C. elegans require specific neuromodulators and are amenable to genetic analysis, which permits unbiased discovery of factors required for neuromodulator signaling or the development of neuromodulatory systems. We have found a circuit that combines two types of neuromodulation to control a simple and stereotyped C. elegans behavior. Chemosensory BAG neurons release neuropeptides that potently inhibit a pair of serotonergic neurons in the reproductive neu…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R35GM122573-10: Molecular genetics of sensory modulation of motor programs (2026)
- 5R01DA056358-05: Behavior-based discovery of small-molecule modulators of neurochemical signaling pathways that underlie addiction (2026)
- 5R01DA056358-04: Behavior-based discovery of small-molecule modulators of neurochemical signaling pathways that underlie addiction (2025)
- 5R35GM122573-09: Molecular genetics of sensory modulation of motor programs (2025)
- 5R01DA056358-03: Behavior-based discovery of small-molecule modulators of neurochemical signaling pathways that underlie addiction (2024)
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