Xiaoke Chen, PhD
Associate Professor
Biology Department
Stanford University
Seminar Information
The level of perceived pain can be strongly influenced by cognition and mood, implying the existence of powerful endogenous neural system for top-down modulation of pain. The periaqueductal gray (PAG)-rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) system has been established as an important node in the descending pain modulation network. Classic studies classified neurons in this system into ON-, OFF-, and Neutral cells based on whether they are activated, inhibited or unaffected by nociceptive stimuli. However, lacking of genetic access to these cell types prevents further dissecting the molecular and cellular mechanisms of how each cell type contribute to somatosensation and pain. In this talk, I will discuss our efforts to bridging this knowledge gap and the identification of novel targets for treating chronic pain.
Xiaoke Chen is an associate professor in the Biology Department at Stanford University. He got his PhD. in 2005 at the Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he studied the kinetics of vesicle fusion in neuron and astrocyte. From 2006-2012, he did postdoc with Dr. Charles Zuker in UC San Diego and Columbia University, to study the neurobiology of taste. Currently, his lab at Stanford is studying brain circuits underlying motivated behaviors and how maladaptive change in these circuits lead to chronic pain, addiction and depression.