
Sascha du Lac, PhD
- Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty
Languages
- English
Gender
FemaleAbout Sascha du Lac
Primary Academic Title
Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Background
Sascha du Lac, Ph.D. received her doctoral degree in Neurosciences from Stanford University. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, she established a multidisciplinary research program to investigate mechanisms of experience-dependent plasticity at multiple levels of analysis from behavior through cellular neurophysiology and gene expression. Prior to moving her laboratory to Johns Hopkins University in 2013, Dr. du Lac was an Associate Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla California and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her laboratory in the JHU Center for Hearing and Balance studies signaling and plasticity in cerebellar, vestibular, and oculomotor circuits using multidisciplinary techniques in mice that include quantitative behavioral analyses, in vivo and in vitro electrophysiology and optogenetics, circuit tracing, and single cell gene expression profiling.
Centers and Institutes
Hearing and Balance, Center for
Additional Academic Titles
Professor of Neuroscience, Professor of Neurology
Research Interests
Cerebellum, Eye Movements, Neuroplasticity, Systems Neuroscience, Vestibular System
Lab Website
Systems Neurobiology Laboratory - Lab Website
- The Systems neurobiology Laboratory is a group of laboratories that all study various aspects of neurobiology. These laboratories include: (1) computational neurobiology Laboratory: The goal of their research is to build bridges between brain levels from the biophysical properties of synapses to the function of neural systems. (2) computational Principles of Natural Sensory Processing: Research in this lab focuses on the computational principles of how the brain processes information. (3) Laboratory for Cognitive neuroscience: This laboratory studies the neural and genetic underpinnings of language and cognition. (4) Sloan-Swartz Center for Theoretical neurobiology: The goal of this laboratory is develop a theoretical infrastructure for modern experimental neurobiology. (5) Organization and development of visual cortex: This laboratory is studying the organization and function of neural circuits in the visual cortex to understand how specific neural components enable visual perception and to elucidate the basic neural mechanisms that underlie cortical function. (6) Neural mechanism of selective visual attention: This laboratory studies the neural mechanisms of selective visual attention at the level of the individual neuron and cortical circuit, and relates these findings to perception and conscious awareness. (7) Neural basis of vision: This laboratory studies how sensory signals in the brain become integrated to form neuronal representation of the objects that people see.
Research Summary
The du Lac laboratory studies systems and cellular mechanisms of signaling and plasticity in cerebellar and brainstem circuits responsible for balance and eye movements. Experimental strategies taking advantage of mouse molecular genetic tools include quantitative behavioral analyses, optogenetic manipulation of specific neuronal populations, in vivo and in vitro electrophysiology, circuit tracing, and single cell gene expression profiling. Research into fundamental mechanisms of function, dysfunction, and plasticity in brainstem and cerebellar microcircuits aims to provide a foundation for improving clinical treatments of dizziness, balance disorders, and nystagmus.
Selected Publications
Bigelow RT, Semenov YR, Anson E, du Lac S, Ferrucci L, Agrawal Y. Impaired Vestibular Function and Low Bone Mineral Density: Data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2016 Oct;17(5):433-40. doi: 10.1007/s10162-016-0577-5. Epub 2016 Jul 22. PMID: 27447468
Ehmsen JT, Liu Y, Wang Y, Paladugu N, Johnson AE, Rothstein JD, du Lac S, Mattson MP, Hoke A. The astrocytic transporter SLC7A10 (Asc-1) mediates glycinergic inhibition of spinal cord motor neurons. Sci Rep. 2016 Oct 19;6:35592. doi: 10.1038/srep35592. PMID: 27759100
Kattah JC, Tehrani AS, du Lac S, Newman-Toker DE, Zee DS. Conversion of upbeat to downbeat nystagmus in Wernicke encephalopathy. Neurology. 2018 Oct 23;91(17):790-796. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000006385. PMID: 30348852
Kim SH, Zee DS, du Lac S, Kim HJ, Kim JS. Nucleus prepositus hypoglossi lesions produce a unique ocular motor syndrome. Neurology. 2016 Nov 8;87(19):2026-2033. Epub 2016 Oct 12. PMID: 27733568
Nelson AB, Faulstich M, Moghadam S, Onori K, Meredith A, du Lac S. BK Channels Are Required for Multisensory Plasticity in the Oculomotor System. Neuron. 2017 Jan 4;93(1):211-220. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.11.019. Epub 2016 Dec 15. PMID: 27989457
Graduate Program Affiliations
Neuroscience Graduate Program, Johns Hopkins University
Memberships
- Society for Neuroscience