Research Outline：My research interests lie in the field of neurophysiology to investigate how brain circuits connect to each other, what physiological function these connections bridge to and how these connections and neuronal activities are adapted to learning or disease progression. Conventionally, to study functional circuits, locally electrical stimulation or pharmacological manipulation has the limitation to characterize defined connections. Optogenetic approach is the combination of genetic and optical methods to reversibly control neuronal activity in targeted cells or circuits of living brain in the millisecond timescale. The advances of optogenetic technologies enable us to selectively manipulate targeted neural projections and examine their functional roles. Currently my research aims to uncover distinct neural functions attributed to selective neural circuits underlying learning and memory, as well as pain representation and modulation. To this end, my research integrates mouse models of instrumental/classical conditioning and neuropathic pain with in vitro slice electrophysiology, in vivo multi-optetrode recordings or in vivo calcium imaging in freely moving mice and optogenetic technology.