NEE Seminar Series

2026-02-02      최명환 교수님 (서울대학교 생명과학부)

시간: 2026년 02월 02일(월) 16:00 장소: 이화여대 아산공학관 521호

제목: Sweet adaptation mediated by glia-like taste cells

초록: The sense of taste generally shows diminishing sensitivity to prolonged sweet stimuli, referred to as sweet adaptation. Yet, its mechanistic landscape remains incomplete. Here, we report that glia-like type I cells provide a distinct mode of sweet adaptation via intercellular crosstalk with chemosensory type II cells. Using the microfluidic-based intravital tongue imaging system, we found that sweet adaptation is facilitated along the synaptic transduction from type II cells to gustatory afferent nerves, while type I cells display temporally delayed and prolonged activities. We identified that type I cells receive purinergic input from adjacent type II cells via P2RY2 and provide inhibitory feedback to the synaptic transduction of sweet taste. Aligning with our cellular-level findings, purinergic activation of type I cells attenuated sweet licking behavior, and P2RY2 knockout mice showed decelerated adaptation behavior. Our study highlights a veiled intercellular mode of sweet adaptation, potentially contributing to the efficient encoding of prolonged sweetness.

2026-02-02      정의헌 교수님 (광주과학기술원(GIST) 의생명공학과)

시간: 2026년 02월 02일(월) 11:00 장소: 이화여대 아산공학관 521호

제목: 환자 중심 신경신호 기반 통증 만성화 기전 규명 및 비침습적 치료법 개발

초록: 본 세미나에서는 통증을 단순한 증상이 아닌, 신경계 지각 처리의 이상이 축적되어 형성되는 동적 질환 상태로 재정의하고자 한다. 특히 환자 중심의 신경신호를 출발점으로 하여, 말초와 중추 신경계 전반에서 관찰되는 신경신호 변성과 신경–면역 상호작용이 어떻게 통증의 만성화로 이어지는지를 다층적 관점에서 조망한다. 환자 유래 임상 데이터와 생체신호를 동물 모델, 광신경생리학 기반 뉴로이미징, 그리고 AI 기반 정량적 통증 평가 기술과 통합함으로써, 기존의 주관적 통증 평가로는 포착하기 어려웠던 신경회로 수준의 이상 패턴과 조절 가능 표적을 제시하고자 한다. 더 나아가 빛과 자기장 등을 활용한 비약물적·비침습적 신경조절 전략을 통해 병적 신경신호를 정밀하게 교정하는 새로운 치료 접근법의 가능성을 논의하며, 통증 연구가 진단–기전–치료로 연속적으로 연결되는 미래 지향적 패러다임을 제안한다.

2026-01-14      강교원 교수님 (한국외국어대학교 바이오메디컬공학부)

시간: 2026년 01월 14일(수) 10:30 장소: 이화여대 아산공학관 521호

제목: Tactile sensing bionic artificial skin & SiNM property modulation

초록: Tactile function is essential for human life as it enables us to recognize texture and respond to external stimuli, including potential threats with sharp objects that may result in punctures or lacerations. Severe skin damage caused by severe burns, skin cancer, chemical accidents, and industrial accidents damage the structure of the skin tissue as well as the nerve system, resulting in permanent tactile sensory dysfunction, which significantly impacts an individual’s daily life. Here, we introduce a fully-implantable wireless powered tactile sensory system embedded artificial skin (WTSA), with stable operation, to restore permanently damaged tactile function and promote wound healing for regenerating severely damaged skin. The fabricated WTSA facilitates (i) replacement of severely damaged tactile sensory with broad biocompatibility, (ii) promoting of skin wound healing and regeneration through collagen and fibrin-based artificial skin (CFAS), and (iii) minimization of foreign body reaction via hydrogel coating on neural interface electrodes. Furthermore, the WTSA shows a stable operation as a sensory system as evidenced by the quantitative analysis of leg movement angle and electromyogram (EMG) signals in response to varying intensities of applied pressures.

2025-12-15      장동표 교수님 (한양대학교 의생명공학전문대학원)

시간: 2025년 12월 15일(월) 16:00 장소: 이화여대 포스코관 552호

제목: Neurotransmitter Release Patterns Induced by Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation: An Electrochemical Analysis

초록: The non-invasive modulation of mesolimbic dopamine (DA) pathways represents a critical therapeutic goal for neuropsychiatric disorders such as addiction and depression. This study investigates the neurochemical effects of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (taVNS) on dopaminergic dynamics within the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) core. To comprehensively analyze DA release, we employed a dual-electrochemical measurement approach in an anesthetized rodent model: Fast- Scan Cyclic Voltammetry (FSCV) to monitor sub-second phasic DA changes and Multiple Cyclic Square Wave Voltammetry (M-CSWV) to track real-time basal tonic DA concentrations.

Optimization of stimulation parameters targeting the auricular branch of the vagus nerve revealed that a frequency of 25 Hz resulted in a statistically significant upregulation of NAc dopamine. Electrochemical analysis demonstrated a distinct modulation of phasic release events alongside a progressive, sustained elevation in tonic basal dopamine levels. This effect is hypothesized to be mediated via the afferent vagal pathway projecting to the Ventral Tegmental Area, a mechanism validated by physiological monitoring of heart rate changes confirming parasympathetic activation. These findings provide direct evidence that taVNS effectively regulates deep brain dopamine, suggesting a potent non-invasive strategy for normalizing reward system dysfunctions.

2025-12-15      한효빈 교수님 (서울과학기술대학교 융합교양학부)

시간: 2025년 12월 15일(월) 10:30 장소: 이화여대 아산공학관 521호

제목: Theta-rhythmic neural activities in the brain of humans, non-human primates, and rodents

초록: Neurons in the mammalian brain often synchronize their activity to theta rhythms (4–12 Hz). Theta rhythms are a ubiquitous feature of brain activity, present in regions from the prefrontal and visual cortices to the hippocampus, and contribute to a broad range of cognitive functions including perception, memory, and motor control. In this talk, I will introduce two key aspects of theta rhythms in neural information processing: (1) facilitating inter-areal communication and (2) temporal embedding of multidimensional information. I will also present recent findings from animal studies that support these mechanisms. Finally, I will explore how theta-targeted neuromodulation in humans may offer new ways to improve human cognition, health, and welfare.

2025-11-14      김민환 교수님 (대구경북과학기술원(DGIST) 뇌과학과)

시간: 2025년 11월 14일(금) 13:00 장소: 이화여대 아산공학관 521호

제목: Target cell-specific synaptic dynamics of excitatory to inhibitory neuron connections in supragranular layers of human neocortex

초록: Rodent studies have demonstrated that synaptic dynamics from excitatory to inhibitory neuron types are often dependent on the target cell type. However, these target cell-specific properties have not been well investigated in human cortex, where there are major technical challenges in reliably obtaining healthy tissue, conducting multiple patch-clamp recordings on inhibitory cell types, and identifying those cell types. Here, we take advantage of newly developed methods for human neurosurgical tissue analysis with multiple patch-clamp recordings, post-hoc fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), machine learning-based cell type classification and prospective GABAergic AAV-based labeling to investigate synaptic properties between pyramidal neurons and PVALB- vs. SST-positive interneurons. We find that there are robust molecular differences in synapse-associated genes between these neuron types, and that individual presynaptic pyramidal neurons evoke postsynaptic responses with heterogeneous synaptic dynamics in different postsynaptic cell types. Using molecular identification with FISH and classifiers based on transcriptomically identified PVALB neurons analyzed by Patch-seq, we find that PVALB neurons typically show depressing synaptic characteristics, whereas other interneuron types including SST-positive neurons show facilitating characteristics. Together, these data support the existence of target cell-specific synaptic properties in human cortex that are similar to rodent, thereby indicating evolutionary conservation of local circuit connectivity motifs from excitatory to inhibitory neurons and their synaptic dynamics.

2025-05-29      강미선 박사님 (한국뇌연구원(KBRI) 정서인지질환 연구그룹)

시간: 2025년 5월 29일(목) 14:00 장소: 이화여대 아산공학관 521호

제목: Role of phospholipase Cη1 in lateral habenula astrocytes in depressive-like behavior in mice

초록: Phospholipase C (PLC) enzymes are key regulators of intracellular calcium signaling and have been implicated in various psychiatric disorders, including depression, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. While several PLC subtypes have been extensively studied, the physiological role of the recently identified PLCη family remains unclear. Here, we identify prominent expression of PLCη1 in astrocytes of the lateral habenula (LHb), a brain region critically involved in mood regulation. To investigate its function, we generated astrocyte-specific PLCη1 conditional knockout (cKO) mice (Plch1f/f;Aldh1l1-CreERT2). In these cKO mice, LHb astrocytes exhibited reduced morphological complexity. These astrocytic alterations were accompanied by increased synaptic efficacy and elevated firing rates of LHb neurons, as well as impaired extra-synaptic long-term depression (LTD). Additionally, tonic AMPA and NMDA receptor-mediated currents and extracellular glutamate levels were significantly reduced. Remarkably, chemogenetic activation of LHb astrocytes rescued the diminished tonic AMPAR/NMDAR currents in cKO mice. Behaviorally, LHb-targeted deletion of PLCη1 using AAV-GFAP-Cre induced depressive-like behaviors, which were reversed by astrocyte-specific chemogenetic activation. Finally, exposure to restraint stress led to a downregulation of Plch1 mRNA in the LHb.Together, these findings uncover a critical role for astrocytic PLCη1 in maintaining LHb circuit function and emotional behavior, suggesting that PLCη1 is a promising target for therapeutic intervention in depression and related neuropsychiatric disorders.

2025-01-21      최영빈 교수님 (서울대학교 의과대학 의공학교실)

시간: 2025년 1월 21일(화) 10:30 장소: 이화여대 아산공학관 521호

제목: Batteryless, Implantable Devices Enabled with On-demand Drug Delivery

초록: Self-injectable therapy has several advantages in the treatment of chronic diseases. However, frequent injections with needles impair patient compliance and medication adherence. To resolve this, many implantable systems have been actively sought to permit on-demand drug delivery without invasive multiple skin punctures. However, they often require electrical power supplies (e.g., batteries) and thus, they are large and heavy for implantation. Therefore, in this talk, we introduce our implantable devices enabled with patient-driven, on-demand drug release without electric power sources. We design the pumps to be actuated by an externally applied magnetic field, which can release an accurate amount of drug only when a magnetic field is applied outside the body. The other type of an implantable device is embedded with multiple drug reservoirs that are capped with a stimulus-responsive membrane (SRM), which can be ruptured by noninvasive near-infrared (NIR) irradiation from the outside skin, hence opening a single selected reservoir to release the drug. For the last, we develop a device capable of on-demand administration of self-injection drugs via noninvasive manual button clicks on the outer skin. The implantable devices herein exhibit the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles, similar to those in animals treated with conventional subcutaneous drug injections. Therefore, we conclude that the systems proposed in this work are promising for noninvasive, on-demand drug administrations.

2025-01-16     노경철 교수님 (아주대학교 의과대학 의학과)

시간: 2025년 1월 16일(목) 13:00 장소: 이화여대 아산공학관 521호

제목: Astrocytes at Play: Shaping Dominance and Winning Memories

초록: Winning can make you more likely to succeed in future competitions, thanks to something called the “winner effect”. This boost in confidence and dominance comes from memories of past victories. But how does the brain create and store these winning memories, and how do they shape social status? In this seminar, I will discuss a recent research highlighting the role of certain brain cells, called astrocytes, in the prefrontal cortex – a part of the brain important for decision-making and social behavior. By recording astrocyte activity during social competition, we found that these astrocytes are activated after a win, helping the brain lock in memories of success. This activation depends on a signal from another brain area called the ventral tegmental area, which sends a dopamine to reinforce the memory. Interestingly, enhancing astrocyte activity strengthened winning memories, while suppressing it made those memories weaker. These findings reveal how the brain’s chemistry supports the “winner effect” and helps establish social hierarchies.