David Schoppik, PhD

In our lab, we study balance. Our goals are to discover how reflexes that permit stable movements develop and function, and to understand how neurodegenerative disease compromises balance. To make progress, we leverage the transparency, rapid development, and genetic accessibility of the zebrafish, a small model vertebrate. We focus on three broad questions:

• How do balance circuits develop? Balance circuits are made of sets of anatomically and functionally specialized neurons. We work to understand how these anatomical and functional properties are established and refined during development. Our focus is on the sets of neurons that together stabilize posture and gaze.
• How does the nervous system balance the body? Physical forces continuously challenge animals’ balance. Animals sense these forces, compute appropriate responses, and biomechanically counter destabilization. We measure and model these phenomena. Our long-term goal is to define how specific neurons compute and implement solutions to permit stable movement.
• How does progressive neurodegeneration give rise to such debilitating symptoms? Many molecular events associated with neurodegenerative disorders have been identified, but how these molecular changes lead to cellular dysfunction and attendant behavioral disturbances remains a mystery. In a new line of study, we are focusing on a class of neurodegenerative disorders that share a common molecular origin, the protein tau. Together with our collaborators, we study how balance and gaze problems emerge in a model of a tau-driven disorder, progressive supranuclear palsy.