THE X. WILLIAM YANG RESEARCH GROUP @ UCLA

Basal ganglia is a brain region involved in motor control, motor skill learning, reward learning, cognition and emotion. It is frequently affected in brain disorders such as Huntington’s disease (HD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Schizophrenia, and drug addiction. Striatum is a central component of the basal ganglia, and about 95% of the striatal neurons are medium spiny neurons (MSNs).

There are two sub-populations of MSNs: about half of the MSNs express dopamine D2 receptor and Enkephalin and project to the external globus pallidus (GPe) (the indirect pathway); and the other half of MSNs express dopamine D1 receptor, Muscarinic receptor M4, and substance P, and project to the internal globus pallidus (GPi) and substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) (the direct pathway). The direct and indirect pathways are thought to antagonize each other to produce a balanced striatal output. MSNs in the direct and indirect pathways are differentially affected in diseases such as HD and PD.

Our laboratory is interested in studying at molecular genetic level and circuitry level how these pathways normally function, and how they are differentially affected in basal ganglia disorders such as HD and PD.