The NINDS is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), conducting research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of neurological disorders and stroke. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.

Research in the Cellular Neurophysiology Section (CNS) in NINDS focuses on circuit and cellular properties of dopaminergic neurons located in the midbrain. We are interested in the physiology of a subset of dopamine neuron located in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) that undergo selective cell death in Parkinson’s patients.  Specifically, we are interested in understanding how synaptic and intrinsic conductances differ among subpopulations dopamine neurons with the hope that this may provide insight to why SNc dopamine neurons are particularly vulnerable in Parkinson’s disease.  Our goal is to identify novel physiological and genetic markers in single SNc dopamine neurons which may be useful in defining subpopulations of these neurons in a meaningful way.