Neural control of breathing and cardiovascular function in health and disease

Research Description:

The Wenker Lab focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms that control breathing, the cardiovascular system, and other homeostatic processes in health and disease. Currently, a significant focus of the laboratory is to elucidate mechanisms of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy patients (SUDEP) using mouse models of epilepsy. The mouse models include traditional inducible models, such as kindling and pro-convulsant drugs, in addition to transgenic mice that represent specific epileptic patient populations. We have found that certain types of seizures produce apnea (breathing cessation), which is the main culprit in causing fatality. Ongoing studies use optogenetics, chemogenetics, target recombination of active neural populations (TRAP), EEG, ECG, and respiratory measurements to understand the mechanisms of this seizure-induced apnea.