DEPARTMENT OF NEUROBIOLOGY

Specializations

Regions(s): Brain and Behavior; Systems Neuroscience

Research interest(s): Optical dissection of the neuronal circuits underlying mammalian navigation

Research Summary

Optical dissection of the neuronal circuits underlying mammalian navigation

The neuronal activity underlying mammalian spatial navigation represents one of the most striking examples of behavioral correlation in the brain. We are interested in the cellular and circuit mechanisms responsible for the neuronal activity that allows mammals to navigate and find their way to specific destinations. To accomplish this, we develop and apply novel optical and genetic techniques to perform cellular and subcellular resolution imaging and manipulation of neuronal population activity in mice navigating in virtual reality environments. By understanding the navigation circuitry, we hope to extract general principles about neuronal population dynamics in behaving mammals.

Selected Publications

• Sheffield, ME, Adoff MD, Dombeck DA, ​(2017) Increased Prevalence of Calcium Transients across the Dendritic Arbor during Place Field Formation. Neuron 96, 490–504.
• Howe MW, Dombeck DA. (2016). “Rapid signaling in distinct dopaminergic axons during locomotion and reward​.” In press, Nature, 535, 505–510
• Sheffield MEJ, Dombeck DA. (2014). Calcium transient prevalence across the dendritic arbour predicts place field properties. Nature 517, 200–204
• Heys JG, Rangarajan KV, Dombeck DA. (2014). The functional micro-organization of grid cells revealed by cellular-resolution imaging. Neuron, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2014.10.048.
• Dombeck DA, Harvey CD, Tian L, Looger LL, Tank DW. (2010). Functional imaging of hippocampal place cells at cellular resolution during virtual navigation. Nat Neurosci, 13(11), 1433-1440.
• Dombeck DA, Graziano MS, Tank DW. (2009). Functional clustering of neurons in motor cortex determined by cellular resolution imaging in awake behaving mice. J Neurosci, Nov 4;29(44):13751-60.
• Harvey CD, Collman F, Dombeck DA, Tank DW. (2009). Intracellular dynamics of hippocampal place cells during virtual navigation. Nature, Oct 15;461(7266):941-6.
• Dombeck DA, Khabbaz AN, Collman F, Adelman TL, Tank DW. (2007). Imaging large-scale neural activity with cellular resolution in awake, mobile mice. Neuron, Oct 4;56(1):43-57.

Selected Honors/Awards

• 2015  McKnight Scholar Award,  McKnight Foundation​
• 2011  Whitehall Research Grant Award, Whitehall Foundation
• 2011  Klingenstein Fellowship in the Neurosciences, Esther & Joseph Klingenstein Foundation
• 2010  Chicago Biomedical Consortium (CBC) Junior Investigator Award
• 2010  Searle Leadership Fund Award, Northwestern University
• 2007  Research Award for Innovation in Neuroscience (RAIN) - Presidential Award Ceremony, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
• 2007-09  Patterson Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in Brain Circuitry