Ying Li
09/2003 – 07/2007 B.S. Biology, Nanjing University, Nanjing
09/2007 – 03/2013 Ph.D. Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China)
04/2013 – 07/2019 Postdoctoral Fellow, Catherine Dulac lab, HHMI, Harvard University, USA
08/2019 – present Assistant Investigator, Chinese Institute for Brain Research, CIBR, Beijing, China
A long-standing goal in neuroscience is to understand how the nervous system interprets salient information from the external world and subsequently generates appropriate behaviors. In social environments, individual interests may conflict with the needs and expectations of others. Thus, the ability to respond to social stimuli is critical for facilitating adaptive behaviors necessary for reproduction and survival. Although most animals are capable of adjusting social behaviors depending on their emotional state and the expectations of encounters, we are only beginning to understand the underlying neural circuits and mechanisms that mediate the formation and the plasticity of adaptive social behaviors. Combining multi-disciplinary approaches including microendoscope-based calcium imaging, single-cell RNA sequencing, optogenetics, photometry, in vivo and ex vivo electrophysiology, and pharmacological approaches, my laboratory aims to understand the underlying neural circuits that mediate the processing of environmental social stimuli.
In particular, we ask the following research questions: Where are the neurons located that are specifically involved in coordinating changes of internal states to generate adaptive behavioral responses? Which neural circuits are responsible for assigning emotional values (i.e., positive or negative) to environmental social cues? How these circuits are regulated by the activity of multiple neuromodulation systems? Do individuals perceive themselves and others differently in in youth versus adulthood? If so, what is the developmental trajectory of this perception and how is it shaped by experience? Answering these questions will enable us to understand the dynamics of neural circuitry that contribute to adaptive behaviors and lead to the development of novel treatments for social deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders.
2020 Qiushi Science and Technology Foundation, Outstanding Young Investigator Award
2019 Beijing Nova Program of Science and Technology
2019 Human Frontier Science Program, Career Development Award
2018 Harvard Chinese Life Science Annual Distinguished Research Award
2014-2017 Human Frontier Science Program, Long-term Postdoc Fellowship
2013 Chinese Academy of Sciences presidential prize
2013 Ray Wu prize
1. Zhou, X.J.,# Li, A.,# Mi, X.,# Li, Y.X., Ding, Z.Y., An, M., Chen, Y.L., Li, W., Tao, X.M., Chen, X.F., and LI, Y.* (2023). Hyperexcited limbic neurons represent sexual satiety and reduce mating motivation. Science. abl4038 (https://www.science.org/stoken/author-tokens/ST-1010/full).
2. Li, Y. and Dulac, C.* (2018). Neuronal coding of sex-specific social information in the mouse brain. Curr Opin Neurobiol 53, 120-130 (Cover).
3. Li, Y., Mathis A., Benjamin GF., Osterhout J., Ahanonu B.,Schnizter M.,Venkatesh N and Dulac C* (2017). Neuronal representation of social information in the medial amygdala of behaving mice. Cell 171(5), 1176-1190.
4. Li, Y., Du, X.F., and Du, J.L.* (2013). Resting microglia respond to and regulate neuronal activity in vivo. Communicative & Integrative Biology. 6: e24493
5. Li, Y.,# Du, X.F.,# Liu, C.S., Wen, Z.L., and Du, J.L.* (2012). Reciprocal regulation between resting microglial dynamics and neuronal activity in vivo. Developmental Cell 23, 1189-1202. (# co-first authors) (Highlighted by Preview in Developmental Cell 23, 1125-1126; and Faculty of 1000; Recommended by NEURON in 2013 as one of most influential papers of microglia research field in the last two years).
6. Xiao, H.,# Li, Y.,# Du, J.L.*, and Mosig, A.* (2011). Ct3d: tracking microglia motility in 3D using a novel co-segmentation approach. Bioinformatics 27, 564-571. (# co-first authors)
