The University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) received a $457,875 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders (CFDA 93.853) program. This funding will support research to investigate electrical signaling in the dendritic branches of spiny projection neurons, which play a key role in the basal ganglia information processing underlying hypokinetic and hyperkinetic neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease.
The project has two main objectives: 1) to test the hypothesis that physiological differences observed in the cell bodies of direct and indirect pathway spiny projection neurons stem from underlying differences in dendritic properties, and 2) to explore whether potassium channel blockers used in Parkinson's disease therapies to protect dopaminergic neurons also impact the electrical signaling within striatal neuron dendrites, potentially influencing the balance between the direct and indirect basal ganglia pathways. The research aims to elucidate the fundamental electrical signal processing within these key neuronal subtypes using novel voltage imaging techniques. The award period runs from July 2024 through June 2026.
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