Prof. Dan’s research lab aims to elucidate what circuits in the mammalian brain control sleep, and mechanisms by which the frontal cortex exerts top-down executive control. They use a variety of techniques, including optogenetics, electrophysiology, imaging, and virus-mediated circuit tracing.

Neural circuits controlling sleep. Using optogenetic manipulation, optrode recording, and cell-type-specific calcium imaging, they identify neuronal types that play critical roles in the generation of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep. Local synaptic interactions between cell types are measured by recordings in brain slices, and long-range connections are mapped using a variety of viral tools.

Function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Combining electrophysiological recording, calcium imaging, and optogenetic manipulation in mice performing PFC-dependent tasks, they aim to understand how the PFC generate task-related activity, and how the activity regulates the downstream targets for optimal behavioral control.

2008 Investigator, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, HHMI

2018 Member of the National Academy of Sciences

2023 Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience

2024 Peter Seeburg Integrative Neuroscience Prize

2025 Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences

1. Silverman D, Chen C, Chang S, Bui L, Zhang Y, Raghavan R, Jiang A, Le A, Darmohray D, Sima J, Ding X, Li B, Ma C, Dan Y. Activation of locus coeruleus noradrenergic neurons rapidly drives homeostatic sleep pressure. Science Advances. 11: eadq0651. PMID 39823324 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adq0651

2. Ma C, Li B, Silverman D, Ding X, Li A, Xiao C, Huang G, Worden K, Muroy S, Chen W, Xu Z, Tso CF, Huang Y, Zhang Y, Luo Q, ... ... Dan Y, et al. Microglia regulate sleep through calcium-dependent modulation of norepinephrine transmission. Nature Neuroscience. PMID 38238430 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01548-5

3. Li B, Ma C, Huang YA, Ding X, Silverman D, Chen C, Darmohray D, Lu L, Liu S, Montaldo G, Urban A, Dan Y. Circuit mechanism for suppression of frontal cortical ignition during NREM sleep. Cell. PMID 38070510 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.11.012

4. Yao Y, Barger Z, Saffari Doost M, Tso CF, Darmohray D, Silverman D, Liu D, Ma C, Cetin A, Yao S, Zeng H, Dan Y. Cardiovascular baroreflex circuit moonlights in sleep control. Neuron. PMID 36170850 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.08.027

5. Hu F, Dan Y. An inferior-superior colliculus circuit controls auditory cue-directed visual spatial attention. Neuron. PMID 34699777 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.10.004

6. Li B, Nguyen TP, Ma C, Dan Y. Inhibition of impulsive action by projection-defined prefrontal pyramidal neurons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID 32631999 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2000523117

7. Liu D, Li W, Ma C, Zheng W, Yao Y, Tso CF, Zhong P, Chen X, Song JH, Choi W, Paik SB, Han H, Dan Y. A common hub for sleep and motor control in the substantia nigra. Science (New York, N.Y.). 367: 440-445. PMID 31974254 DOI: 10.1126/Science.Aaz0956

8. Hu F, Kamigaki T, Zhang Z, Zhang S, Dan U, Dan Y. Prefrontal Corticotectal Neurons Enhance Visual Processing through the Superior Colliculus and Pulvinar Thalamus. Neuron. PMID 31668485 DOI: 10.1016/J.Neuron.2019.09.019

9. Zhong P, Zhang Z, Barger Z, Ma C, Liu D, Ding X, Dan Y. Control of Non-REM Sleep by Midbrain Neurotensinergic Neurons. Neuron. PMID 31582313 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.08.026

10. Ma C, Zhong P, Liu D, Barger ZK, Zhou L, Chang WC, Kim B, Dan Y. Sleep Regulation by Neurotensinergic Neurons in a Thalamo-Amygdala Circuit. Neuron. PMID 31178114 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.05.015

11. Zhang Z, Zhong P, Hu F, Barger Z, Ren Y, Ding X, Li S, Weber F, Chung S, Palmiter RD, Dan Y. An Excitatory Circuit in the Perioculomotor Midbrain for Non-REM Sleep Control. Cell. PMID 31031008 DOI: 10.1016/J.Cell.2019.03.041

12. Liu D, Dan Y. A Motor Theory of Sleep-Wake Control: Arousal-Action Circuit. Annual Review of Neuroscience. PMID 30699051 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-080317-061813

13. Chen KS, Xu M, Zhang Z, Chang WC, Gaj T, Schaffer DV, Dan Y. A Hypothalamic Switch for REM and Non-REM Sleep. Neuron. PMID 29478915 DOI: 10.1016/J.Neuron.2018.02.005

14. Weber F, Hoang Do JP, Chung S, Beier KT, Bikov M, Saffari Doost M, Dan Y. Regulation of REM and Non-REM Sleep by Periaqueductal GABAergic Neurons. Nature Communications. 9: 354. PMID 29367602 DOI: 10.1038/S41467-017-02765-W

15. Chung S, Weber F, Zhong P, Tan CL, Nguyen TN, Beier KT, Hörmann N, Chang WC, Zhang Z, Do JP, Yao S, Krashes MJ, Tasic B, Cetin A, Zeng H, ... ... Dan Y, et al. Identification of preoptic sleep neurons using retrograde labelling and gene profiling. Nature. PMID 28514446 DOI: 10.1038/Nature22350