Mammalian Circuits Underlying Somatosensation
Recent advances in molecular genetics, optogenetics, neuroimaging and brain-machine interfaces puts us at the verge of major breakthroughs in understanding the neural basis of somatosensation. We've seen unprecedented progress in our understanding of the molecules, cells and circuits of touch and itch, and how they interface with proprioceptive and nociceptive circuits. As a follow up to the 2013 Touch Sensation Conference held at Janelia, this conference highlighted these advances in the context of our current understanding of peripheral, spinal and supraspinal mechanisms of somatosensation, with the goal of revealing the logic and function of neural circuits that underlie the perception of touch, and that integrate touch, itch, proprioceptive and nociceptive inputs to guide complex behavioral outputs. This meeting brought together molecular geneticists, physiologists, behavioral scientists, and bioengineers using rodent, human, and non-human primates model systems. Presentations and discussions focused on mammalian cutaneous afferents and their associated neural circuits within the spinal cord, brain stem and cortex that underlie tactile perception, object and form recognition, and pruritic behaviors.
Organizers
David Ginty, HHMI/Harvard Medical School
Ellen Lumpkin, Columbia University
Invited Participants
Diana Bautista, University of California, Berkeley
Sliman Bensmaia, University of Chicago
Carmen Birchmeier, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine
Robert Brownstone, Dalhousie University
Michael Caterina, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Xinzhong Dong, HHMI/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Daniel Feldman, University of California, Berkeley
Maria Fitzgerald, University College London
Esther Gardner, NYU School of Medicine
Manuel Gomez-Ramirez, Johns Hopkins University
Martyn Goulding, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Jianguo Gu, University of Alabama Birmingham
Vincent Hayward, Université Pierre et Marie Curie
David Hughes, University of Glasgow
Roland Johansson, Umeå University
Richard Koerber, University of Pittsburgh
Robert LaMotte, Yale University
Gary Lewin, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
Wenqin Luo, University of Pennsylvania
Qiufu Ma, Harvard Medical School
Lee Miller, Northwestern University
India Morrison, Linköping University
Miguel Nicolelis, Duke University Medical Center
Daniel O'Connor, Johns Hopkins University
Ardem Patapoutian, HHMI/Scripps Research Institute
Sarah Ross, University of Pittsburgh
Gregory Scherrer, Stanford School of Medicine
Rebecca Seal, University of Pittsburgh
Cheryl Stucky, Medical College of Wisconsin
Karel Svoboda, Janelia Research Campus/HHMI
Andrew Todd, University of Glasgow
Fan Wang, Duke University
Jeff Yau, Baylor College of Medicine
