Prof. Lei Xiao

Principal Investigator

Research Directions

Dissecting neuromodulatory control of brain functions and diseases

Contact  Information

Address:  Institutes of Brain Science, Fudan University, 131 Dong'an Road, Shanghai 200032, China
Tel: 021-54237592     Email: leixiao@fudan.edu.cn

Dr. Lei Xiao received his B.S. degree from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in 2009 and his Ph.D. degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2014. From 2014 to 2018, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurobiology at Northwestern University in USA. He joined the Institute of Brain Science at Fudan University in 2018. His work have been published in Neuron, Nature Communications, Molecular Psychiatry, Brain Behavior and Immunity, Stroke, eLife, Progress in Neurobiology, J Neurosci, and BMC Biology.

Enrollment Major
Neurobiology

Research Direction
The mammalian brain contains millions of neurons that communicate through electrochemical means to maintain brain function. In addition to fast neurotransmissions, a diverse set of slower instructive signals, referred to collectively as neuromodulation, are important for all forms of vertebrate behavior and are frequently perturbed in neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental, and mental health disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, and depression. The long-range goal of my lab is to leverage multiple cutting-edge techniques – including opto- and pharmacogenetics, and in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology and optical techniques with behavior assays – in order to investigate functional organization of neuromodulatory circuits and uncover how neuromodulatory systems interact and cooperate to control brain states and guide behavior.

Selected Publications

1. Tong QP, Cui X, Xu H, Zhang XS, Hu SH, Huang F, Xiao L*(2023). D1 receptor-expressing neurons in ventral tegmental area alleviate mouse anxiety-like behaviors via glutamatergic projection to lateral septum. Mol Psychiatr. 28(2): 625-638

2. Jiang JL, Zou Y, Xie CT, Yang MX, Tong QP, Yuan MM, Pei X, Deng SX, Tian M, Xiao L*, Gong Y*(2023). Oxytocin alleviates cognitive and memory impairments by decreasing hippocampal microglial activation and synaptic defects via OXTR/ERK/ STAT3 pathway in a mouse model of sepsis-associated encephalopathy. Brain Behav Immun. 114: 195-213

3. Cui X, Tong QP, Xu H, Xie CT, Xiao L*(2023). A putative loop connection between VTA dopamine neurons and nucleus accumbens encodes positive valence to compensate for hunger. Prog Neurobiol. 229: 102503

4. Chen SY, Xu H, Dong S, Xiao L*(2022). Morpho-Electric Properties and Diversity of Oxytocin Neurons in Paraventricular Nucleus of Hypothalamus in Female and Male Mice. J Neurosci. 42(14): 2885-2904

5. Xiao L, Priest M, Nasenbeny J, Lu T, Kozorovitskiy Y*(2017). Biased oxytocinergic modulation of midbrain dopamine systems. Neuron. 95(2): 368-384