The Epilepsy and Brain Connectivity Laboratory

Welcome to the Epilepsy and Brain Connectivity Lab located in the department of Neurosurgery, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University. Our research interests follow two primary directions: first, we employ advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI) to study the impact of neurological diseases on brain networks. Second, we apply electrophysiological techniques such as optogenetics, chemogenetics and calcium imaging that enable us to study the cellular mechanism and neuronal networks related to seizure disorders.

Recent News

Daniel Valdivia, a 2nd-year medical student at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, just won first place in the poster presentation at the 10th annual Rutgers Brain Health Institute Research Symposium.  The poster was titled “Post-ictal Oscillations are Associated with Tissue Integrity in the Hippocampus of Epileptic Mice.” [poster]

Recent Publications

Unilateral optogenetic kindling of hippocampus leads to more severe impairments of the inhibitory signaling in the contralateral hippocampus. F.C. Tescarollo, D. Valdivia, S. Chen, H. Sun*. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 2023. [paper]

Ictogenesis proceeds through discrete phases in hippocampal CA1 seizures in mice. JS. Mueller, F.C. Tescarollo, T. Huynh, D. Brenner, D. Valdivia, K. Olagbegi, S. Sangappa, S. Chen, H. Sun. Nature Communications, 2023. [paper]

DREADDs in Epilepsy Research: Network-Based Review. JS. Mueller†, F.C. Tescarollo†, H. Sun*. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 2022. [paper]

Research Study Volunteers Needed

If you have suffered traumatic brain injuries, have experienced seizures after brain trauma, or have been diagnosed with PTSD, please contact Dr. Hai Sun at hai.sun@rutgers.edu to find out whether you can be enrolled in our studies. You will be compensated for your time. [Learn More]