General

Ninglong Xu, Ph.D.

Senior Investigator

Institute of Neuroscience

Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology

Chinese Academy of Sciences

320 Yueyang Road, Shanghai, 200031, P.R.China

Email: xunl@ion.ac.cn

Office Phone: +86-21-54921866

Lab website


Research Areas

  1. Cortical circuit mechanism underlying auditory perception

  2. Neural circuit mechanism underlying decision-making

  3. Dendritic computations in decision-making behavior


Education

Ph.D.,  Neurobiology, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China, 2006

​B.S.,  Bioengineering, School of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China 1999.  


Experience

• Principal Investigator and Lab Head, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai  (2013 ~ ). 

• Research Specialist, Howard Hughes Medical Ins$tute, Janelia Farm Research Campus  (2011 ~  2013).   

• Postdoctoral Associate, Howard Hughes Medical Ins$tute, Janelia Farm Research  Campus (2008 ~ 2011).  

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (2006 ~ 2008)


Publications

  1. Liu, Y., Xin, Y., Xu, N.L.* (2021). A cortical circuit mechanism for structural knowledge based flexible sensorimotor decision-making. Neuron, 109, 1–16.

  2. Duan, C.A.#*, Pan, Y.#, Ma, G., Zhou, T., Zhang, S., Xu, N.L.* (2021) A cortico-collicular pathway for motor planning in a memory-dependent perceptual decision task. Nature Communications, 12, 2727.  

  3. Xu, N.L.* (2020) Deciphering Pyramidal Neuron Diversity: Delineating Perceptual Functions of Projection-Defined Neuronal Types. Neuron (Preview), 105, 209-211.

  4. Xin, Y., Zhong, L., Zhang, Y., Zhou, T., Pan, J., Xu, N.L.* (2019) Sensory-to-category transformation via dynamic reorganization of ensemble structures in mouse auditory cortex. Neuron, 103, 909-921.

  5. Zhong, L., Zhang, Y., Duan, C.A., Deng, J., Pan, J., Xu, N.L.* (2019) Causal contributions of parietal cortex to perceptual decision-making during stimulus categorization. Nature Neuroscience, 22, 963–973.

  6. Ranganathan, G.N., Apostolides, P.F., Harnett, M.T., Xu, N.L., Druckmann, S., Magee, J.C.* (2018) Active dendritic integration and mixed neocortical network representations during an adaptive sensing behavior. Nature Neuroscience, 21 (11):1583-1590.

  7. Xu, N.L.* (2015) Learning to memorize: Shedding new light on prefrontal functions. Neurosci. Bull. 31: 242-244. (Review)

  8.  Chen, J.L.*, Andermann, M.L., Keck, T., Xu, N.L., and Ziv, Y. (2013) Imaging Neuronal Populations in Behaving Rodents: Paradigms for Studying Neural Circuits Underlying Behavior in the Mammalian Cortex. J. Neurosci., 33(45): 17631-17640.

  9. Harnett, M.T., Xu, N.L., Magee, J.C.*, Williams, S.R.*, (2013) Potassium Channels Control the Interaction between Active Dendritic Integration Compartments in Layer 5 Cortical Pyramidal Neurons. Neuron, 79: 516-529.

  10. Xu, N.L., Harnett, M.T., O’Connor, D.H., Huber, D., Williams, S.R., Svoboda, K., Magee, J.C.*, (2012) Nonlinear dendritic integration of sensory and motor input during an active sensing task. Nature, 492: 247-251.

  11. Petreanu, L., Gutnisky, D.A., Huber, D., Xu, N.L., O’Connor, D.H., Tian, L., Looger, L., and Svoboda, K.*, (2012) Activity in motor-sensory projections reveals distributed coding in somatosensation. Nature, 489: 299–303.

  12. Xu, N.L., Ye, C.Q., and Poo, M.M.*, Zhang, X.H.* (2006) Coincidence detection of synaptic inputs is facilitated at the distal dendrites after long-term potentiation induction. J. Neurosci., 26: 3002-3009. 

  13. Wang, Z., Xu, N.L., Wu, C.P., Duan, S.*, and Poo, M.M.*, (2003) Bidirectional changes in spatial dendritic integration accompanying long-term synaptic modifications. Neuron, 37: 463-72.

Research Interests

      The goal of our research is to understand how the architectures and functional operations of neuronal circuits  in the mammalian brain mediate fundamental cognitive functions including percept formation and decision-making. We combine inovative recording and manipulation methods including in vivo two-photon imaging and optogenetics with rigorous and novel behavioral task design to address the following fundamental questions: 
  1. How does the interaction between higher order cortex and sensory cortex support perceptual categorization? We focus on the impact of long-distance top-down projections on local circuit computation in the sensory cortex. 
  2. How is perception linked to decision to guide behavior in a flexible and adaptive way? We focus on association cortices including posterior parietal cortex and prefrontal cortex and their interaction with other cortical and subcortical regions during decision-making. 
  3. How does the brain select motor plans? We focus on the higher motor cortices and its interaction with subcortical regions including the basal ganglia, superior colliculus and thalamus. 

Answers to these questions will substantially advance our understanding at the neuronal circuit level how our conscious perception and intelligence arise. 


Students

已指导学生

辛宇  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

钟林  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

邓吉  硕士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

现指导学生

崔乐乐  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

柴睿明  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

张园  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

刘彦和  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

唐顺航  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

周建祥  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

潘宇昕  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

胡亚闯  博士研究生  0710Z2-计算生物学  

刘琪  硕士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

高迎港  硕士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

石卉  硕士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

杜洁  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学  

夏显霖  博士研究生  071006-神经生物学