Bio

I obtained a PhD from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2020, where I worked on neurocircuitry dissecting. Currently, I'm working in the field of ophthalmology, using optogenetics to develop treatment strategies for optic neuropathies.

Honors & Awards

  • Dean Scholarship, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (2018)
  • Merit Student, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (2019)

Professional Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Chinese Academy Of Sciences (2020)
  • PhD, Chinese Academy of sciences, Beijing, China, neuroscience (2020)

Stanford Advisors

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Optic neuropathies are a group of conditions that affect the optic nerve, which is responsible for carrying visual information from the eye to the brain. These conditions can result in partial or complete loss of vision, and they can be caused by a variety of factors, including injury, disease, and genetics. One of the key challenges in treating optic neuropathies is finding ways to restore the function of damaged or diseased optic nerve cells.

Optogenetics is a rapidly growing field that has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the nervous system and how it can be manipulated for therapeutic purposes. Optogenetics offers a promising approach to this problem, as it allows researchers to control the activity of specific neurons using light.

Our hypothesis is optogenetics stimulation or inhibition the activity of specific neurons in the optic nerve may be able to restore some degree of visual function in people with optic neuropathies. Our aim is developing optogenetic therapies for clinic treatment.

All Publications

  • Divergent neurocircuitry dissociates two components of the stress response: glucose mobilization and anxiety-like behavior. Cell reports Jia, X., Chen, S., Li, X., Tao, S., Lai, J., Liu, H., Huang, K., Tian, Y., Wei, P., Yang, F., Lu, Z., Chen, Z., Liu, X. A., Xu, F., Wang, L. 2022; 41 (6): 111586

    Abstract

    Stress is a risk factor for emotion and energy metabolism disorders. However, the neurocircuitry mechanisms for emotion initiation and glucose mobilization underlying stress responses are unclear. Here we demonstrate that photoactivation of Gad2+ projection from the anterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (aBNST) to the arcuate nucleus (ARC) induces anxiety-like behavior as well as acute hyperglycemia. Photoinhibition of the circuit is anxiolytic and blocks hyperglycemia induced by restraint stress. Pharmacogenetic inhibition of the ARCGad2+→raphe obscurus nucleus (ROb) and photoactivation of the aBNSTGad2+→ARC circuits simultaneously leads to significant hypoglycemia and anxiety-like behavior. Pharmacogenetic inhibition of the ARCGad2+→nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) whilst photoactivation of the aBNSTGad2+→ARC circuit only induces hyperglycemia. Our results reveal that the aBNSTGad2+→ARCGad2+→ROb circuit is recruited for the stress response of rapid glucose mobilization and the aBNSTGad2+→ARCGad2+→NTS circuit for behavioral symptoms of stress response. This study identifies a possible general strategy for neurocircuitry structural organization dealing with multiple organs involved in responses, with potential therapeutic targets for emotion and energy metabolism disorders underlying psychiatric disorders.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111586

    View details for PubMedID 36351404

  • Topological Shape Changes Weaken the Innate Defensive Response to Visual Threat in Mice. Neuroscience bulletin Huang, Y., Li, L., Dong, K., Tang, H., Yang, Q., Jia, X., Liao, Y., Wang, W., Ren, Z., Chen, L., Wang, L. 2020; 36 (4): 427-431

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s12264-019-00454-w

    View details for PubMedID 31813096

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC7142195

  • Profiling of key brain nuclei involved in CNS control of stress and glucose homeostasis. Biochemical and biophysical research communications Jia, X., Liu, X. A., Shi, Y., Yao, S., Zhong, X., Tian, Y., Tian, Q., Chen, Z., Wang, L. 2020; 521 (2): 441-448

    Abstract

    Previous work have shown several key brain nuclei involved in acute psychological stress and glucose homeostasis. Acute stress influences glucose metabolism via released stress hormones by activating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system. Little is known about the brain nuclei which response to peripheral glucose alteration are either abundant with glucosesensing neurons or the activations are secondary to stress. Here we profile and compare the brain nuclei that response to stress and glucose homeostasis in mouse models of acute restraint stress, glucose and 2-DG injections respectively. Our present work provide a comprehensive depiction on key brain nuclei involved in CNS control of stress and glucose homeostasis, which gives clue for functional identification of brain nuclei that regulate glucose homeostasis under stress.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.bbrc.2019.10.072

    View details for PubMedID 31672274

  • Stress affects the oscillation of blood glucose levels in rodents Biological Rhythm Research Jia, X., Hu, Y., Yang, X., Liu, T., Huang, Y., Wei, P., Hao, Y., Wang, L. 2020; 51 (5): 699-708

    View details for DOI 10.1080/09291016.2018.1558734

  • The bed nucleus of striatum projected to the arcuate nucleus regulates anxiety-like behavior IBRO Reports Jia, X., Huang, K., Lu, Z., Wang, L. 2020
  • Glutamatergic Neurons in the Piriform Cortex Influence the Activity of D1- and D2-Type Receptor-Expressing Olfactory Tubercle Neurons. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience White, K. A., Zhang, Y. F., Zhang, Z., Bhattarai, J. P., Moberly, A. H., In 't Zandt, E. E., Pena-Bravo, J. I., Mi, H., Jia, X., Fuccillo, M. V., Xu, F., Ma, M., Wesson, D. W. 2019; 39 (48): 9546-9559

    Abstract

    Sensory cortices process stimuli in manners essential for perception. Very little is known regarding interactions between olfactory cortices. The piriform "primary" olfactory cortex, especially its anterior division (aPCX), extends dense association fibers into the ventral striatum's olfactory tubercle (OT), yet whether this corticostriatal pathway is capable of shaping OT activity, including odor-evoked activity, is unknown. Further unresolved is the synaptic circuitry and the spatial localization of OT-innervating PCX neurons. Here we build upon standing literature to provide some answers to these questions through studies in mice of both sexes. First, we recorded the activity of OT neurons in awake mice while optically stimulating principal neurons in the aPCX and/or their association fibers in the OT while the mice were delivered odors. This uncovered evidence that PCX input indeed influences OT unit activity. We then used patch-clamp recordings and viral tracing to determine the connectivity of aPCX neurons upon OT neurons expressing dopamine receptor types D1 or D2, two prominent cell populations in the OT. These investigations uncovered that both populations of neurons receive monosynaptic inputs from aPCX glutamatergic neurons. Interestingly, this input originates largely from the ventrocaudal aPCX. These results shed light on some of the basic physiological properties of this pathway and the cell-types involved and provide a foundation for future studies to identify, among other things, whether this pathway has implications for perception.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Sensory cortices interact to process stimuli in manners considered essential for perception. Very little is known regarding interactions between olfactory cortices. The present study sheds light on some of the basic physiological properties of a particular intercortical pathway in the olfactory system and provides a foundation for future studies to identify, among other things, whether this pathway has implications for perception.

    View details for DOI 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1444-19.2019

    View details for PubMedID 31628176

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC6880455