Ding Liu

My Own Lab at Westlake University is OPEN! We are recruiting cool people at all levels NOW!
By tinkering behaviors and neural circuits in distinct animal species (mouse, sugar glider, etc), we are exploring new ways of doing social neuroscience in vivo, in silico and at home!

Is social connection a basic need like food, water? — Harvard Gazette New research exploring the neurological basis behind the urge to be with other people suggests touch is an important factor.

The mechanics of how loneliness or instinctive social need is encoded in the brain are unclear.
From @dulaclab.bsky.social and colleagues, first author @dingliu.bsky.social
@naoshigeuchida.bsky.social

news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

The dataset is massive: 200,000 cells and ~150 cell types, ~25% of which have known behavioral annotations thanks to previous work by many labs, such as @dulaclab.bsky.social work on parenting or social drive (recently published by @dingliu.bsky.social). Maybe you can spot your favorite cell type!

Delighted to share our new work just out today, led by terrific postdoc in the lab @harriskaplan.bsky.social: the development of instinct at the single cell level. Thread to follow shortly
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Thank you so much, Ishmail! Really appreciated the mice and support you provided! Let’s keep in “touch”!

Dulac Lab Identifies “Loneliness” Neurons in the Hypothalamus - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Loneliness is encoded in the brain in a way that closely resembles the neural architectures governing drives like thirst and hunger, researchers from the Dulac Lab report. A […]

Dulac Lab Identifies “Loneliness” Neurons in the Hypothalamus
🧠🧪🤖💡 #Science #Neuron
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...
@dingliu.bsky.social @blogeman.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social

Hey Yoh! Long time no see. Thank you!

Thank you, Dayu!

Thank you, Sebastian!!

And the colleagues from the Dulac lab: @mostafizurrahman.bsky.social @Autumn Johnson @Zuri A. Sullivan @Nicolai Pena @Mustafa Talay @blogeman.bsky.social @Samantha Finkbeiner @Lechen Qian @Athena Capo-Battaglia (7/7)

Thank all the collaborators and lab members for their contribution and superb teamwork: @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @Mitsuko Watabe-Uchida, @Ryunosuke Amo @Iku Tsutsui-Kimura @David Ginty @ssebastianchoi.bsky.social @ishmailsaboor.bsky.social (6/7)

We also found that touch is a key sensory modality for mice to perceive social environment, with lack of touch sensation leading to the emergence of social need, and its presence providing social satiety. (5/7)

Via projections to oxytocin neurons, lateral habenula and arcuate nucleus, Isolation neurons coordinate the enhanced social drive, aversive emotion and inhibition of eating during short-term social isolation. The projections from Reunion neurons to VTA led to dopamine release during reunion. (4/7)

We further identified two molecularly defined interconnected neuronal populations in the hypothalamus, one activated by social isolation, the other by social reunion, together mediating a dynamic balance between “social need” and “social satiety” states. (3/7)

First, we characterized a "social rebound" behavior triggered by social isolation, which suggests a homeostatic regulation of social need. Intriguingly, different mouse strains showed distinct social rebound intensity after isolation, indicating a genetic basis for social need. (2/7)

In our new paper @dulaclab.bsky.social, we investigated a fundamental question in social neuroscience: the origin of "sociality" (the need of being together) at the levels of behavior, neuron type, neural circuit and sensory modulation. (Detailed digest below) (1/7)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

And the colleagues from the Dulac lab: @mostafizurrahman.bsky.social @Autumn Johnson @Zuri A. Sullivan @Nicolai Pena @Mustafa Talay @blogeman.bsky.social @Samantha Finkbeiner @Lechen Qian @Athena Capo-Battaglia (7/7)

Thank all the collaborators and lab members for their contribution and superb teamwork: @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @Mitsuko Watabe-Uchida, @Ryunosuke Amo @Iku Tsutsui-Kimura @David Ginty @ssebastianchoi.bsky.social @ishmailsaboor.bsky.social (6/7)

We also found that touch is a key sensory modality for mice to perceive social environment, with lack of touch sensation leading to the emergence of social need, and its presence providing social satiety. (5/7)

Via projections to oxytocin neurons, lateral habenula and arcuate nucleus, Isolation neurons coordinate the enhanced social drive, aversive emotion and inhibition of eating during short-term social isolation. The projections from Reunion neurons to VTA led to dopamine release during reunion. (4/7)

We further identified two molecularly defined interconnected neuronal populations in the hypothalamus, one activated by social isolation, the other by social reunion, together mediating a dynamic balance between “social need” and “social satiety” states. (3/7)

First, we characterized a "social rebound" behavior triggered by social isolation, which suggests a homeostatic regulation of social need. Intriguingly, different mouse strains showed distinct social rebound intensity after isolation, indicating a genetic basis for social need. (2/7)

We also found that touch is a key sensory modality for mice to perceive social environment, with lack of touch sensation leading to the emergence of social need, and its presence providing social satiety. (5/7)

Via projections to oxytocin neurons, lateral habenula and arcuate nucleus, Isolation neurons coordinate the enhanced social drive, aversive emotion and inhibition of eating during short-term social isolation. The projections from Reunion neurons to VTA led to dopamine release during reunion. (4/7)

We further identified two molecularly defined interconnected neuronal populations in the hypothalamus, one activated by social isolation, the other by social reunion, together mediating a dynamic balance between “social need” and “social satiety” states. (3/7)

First, we characterized a "social rebound" behavior triggered by social isolation, which suggests a homeostatic regulation of social need. Intriguingly, different mouse strains showed distinct social rebound intensity after isolation, indicating a genetic basis for social need. (2/7)

We also found that touch is a key sensory modality for mice to perceive social environment, with lack of touch sensation leading to the emergence of social need, and its presence providing social satiety. (5/7)

Via projections to oxytocin neurons, lateral habenula and arcuate nucleus, Isolation neurons coordinate the enhanced social drive, aversive emotion and inhibition of eating during short-term social isolation. The projections from Reunion neurons to VTA led to dopamine release during reunion. (4/7)

We further identified two molecularly defined interconnected neuronal populations in the hypothalamus, one activated by social isolation, the other by social reunion, together mediating a dynamic balance between “social need” and “social satiety” states. (3/7)

First, we characterized a "social rebound" behavior triggered by social isolation, which suggests a homeostatic regulation of social need. Intriguingly, different mouse strains showed distinct social rebound intensity after isolation, indicating a genetic basis for social need. (2/7)