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| Name |
Dan, Yang |
| Location
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University of California, Berkeley |
| Primary Field
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Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience |
| Secondary Field
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Systems Neuroscience |
 Election Citation
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Dan is an internationally-renowned leader in studying neural circuits. Using creative and bold approaches, she bridged our understanding of cortical processing and plasticity at multiple levels, from neurons and synapse to perception and cognition. Recently, using state-of-the-art techniques, her work significantly advanced our understanding of the neural circuits controlling sleepevents. |
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Research Interests
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Yang Dan's laboratory is interested in understanding the neural circuits controlling both innate and learned behaviors. Using a combination of electrophysiology, imaging, and computational methods, they have demonstrated distinct roles of different genetically defined subtypes of cortical neurons in visual coding, top-down attentional modulation, and working memory. Dan?s recent interest is to understand the neural circuits controlling sleep, a fundamental biological process with strong impact on human health. Using novel techniques to target genetically defined cell types for recording and manipulation, her team has identified key neuronal circuits for the generation of both rapid-eye-movement (REM) and non-REM sleep. The identification of sleep neurons allows them to induce or terminate sleep effectively, which also provides a powerful tool for understanding the functions of sleep.
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