NEURAL CIRCUITS FOR MOVEMENT
Discovering the molecular, cellular, and circuit mechanisms that underlie innate and learned motor actions
WELCOME!
The McElvain Lab investigates basal ganglia and brainstem circuit mechanisms of movement using multidisciplinary cellular and systems neuroscience approaches.
We combine tools from genetics, electrophysiology, neuroanatomy, and high-resolution animal behavior to identify how neuronal activity is routed to motor neurons to control patterns of muscular activation in health and in models of common motor diseases, including Parkinson's disease.
OUR RESEARCH
We aim to understand how movement is controlled across the motor system hierarchy. Our focus on the motor system starts with motor neurons and works backwards to delineate the elemental control of movement by low-level controllers in the brainstem and to identify how higher-order neuronal populations drive them in order to regulate reflexes and sculpt volitional movements.
