Research

Learning new behaviors is essential throughout life, from early childhood development to adulthood. Consequently, deficits in learning have a significant impact on affected individuals, their families, and society.

Development and learning require precise adaptations in neural circuit structure and function—mechanisms that remain only partially understood. Our goal is to disentangle these processes under both normal and disease conditions. Beyond uncovering physiological mechanisms, we aim to establish causal links between learning deficits or developmental delays and impaired brain circuit adaptations. We seek to identify molecular pathways and mutations that affect circuit formation and multisensory processing. Ultimately, we strive to translate these insights into clinical applications by developing new diagnostic tools and innovative treatment strategies.

In our second phase, we focus specifically on multisensory integration and autism. To strengthen the bridge between basic science and clinical applications, we have defined “multisensory integration” as our overarching research theme—examining its role in neural circuit formation, structure, and behavior in both health and developmental disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

PLATFORMS

The URPP AdaBD has established and continues to develop three key PLATFORMS to support its research and outreach:

• Innovative Microscopy Platform (iMIC): Provides high-resolution microscopy tools for AdaBD researchers.
• Platform for High-Dimensional Data Science: Advances software tools for analyzing complex spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal data sets.
• Platform for Learning and Learning Disorders (LLD): Enhances knowledge of learning disorders, aiming to improve the well-being of affected individuals.

RESEARCH PATHS

We pursue multiple research projects structured along three main PATHS:

• PATH 1: From Genes to Circuit Formation and Function
  Investigates how neural circuits develop and how their functions are established in both health and disease.
• PATH 2: From Behavior to Underlying Circuit Formation
  Takes the reverse approach—starting with studies of circuit dynamics in behaving animals, particularly during multisensory learning, and tracing these findings back to specific circuit elements and genetic factors associated with developmental delay and learning deficits.
• PATH 3: Integrating Human, Animal, and Clinical Perspectives
  Bridges insights from animal models to human studies by comparing network activity across coordinated behavioral tasks. Our goal is to translate findings from animal research to human brain circuits, designing targeted tests for children with developmental delays to improve diagnosis and interventions.