Welcome to the Levine Lab!
Spinal Circuits and Plasticity Unit/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/NIH
We're really excited about the cells and circuits of the spinal cord! Why? The spinal cord is the major link between the brain and the body. It receives cues from the cortex and other areas in the brain and from the sensory pathways of the body. A diverse array of spinal cord neurons integrate all of this information and transform them into motor commands, autonomic regulation, and sensory processing. We want to know how this happens and, ultimately, we hope to use this knowledge to improve recovery for patients with stroke and spinal cord injury. We are guided by three key questions:
What are the cell types of the mammalian spinal cord? How do specific spinal cord cell types contribute to behavior? And how are spinal cord cells incorporated into central nervous system-wide circuits for motor control?