Jason Wester, PhD
Assistant Professor
Neuroscience
Academic information
- Department: Neuroscience
Research interests
- Cortex Development Circuits
- Synaptic Physiology
About
Biography
We study how neural circuits in the neocortex and hippocampus are organized and develop. Our primary focus is on patterns of synaptic connectivity between different types of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. To accomplish this, we compare circuits observed during normal development with those observed in mouse models of developmental disorders such as autism. We are testing the hypothesis that mature cortical circuits contain repeated motifs (selective connectivity among specific neuronal types), which are necessary for normal brain function, and are altered in disease conditions during early developmental periods.
Credentials
Education
- Postdoctoral Training
- National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
- PhD - Neuroscience
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Research
Research interests
- Cortex Development Circuits
- Synaptic Physiology
Research Approach
We use transgenic mice to label specific neuronal subtypes and knockout key disease risk genes. We also deliver genes via in vivo stereotaxic injection of viral vectors. We then use paired whole-cell recordings and optogenetics in acute slices of neocortex and hippocampus to map local circuits and study their synaptic physiology under normal and mutant conditions. Additionally, we use immunohistochemistry and single-cell RNA-sequencing to investigate cell- and non-cell-autonomous changes in molecular expression.