Luis De Lecea
Professor
Psych/Major Laboratories and Clinical & Translational Neuros
Stanford University
United States of America
Biography
Dr. de Lecea received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Barcelona and conducted postdoctoral research at the Scripps Research Institute in the lab of Dr. Greg Sutcliffe. During his postdoc, Dr. de Lecea discovered the cortical neuromodulator cortistatin and the hypothalamic hypocretin system. During the past decade he has held faculty positions at the Scripps Research Institute and Stanford University, where he has characterized the role of hypocretins in various mammalian behaviors. Recently, his lab has applied optogenetic techniques to directly modulate neurons that produce hypocretins and other neuromodulators to elucidate their role in behaviors, especially sleep/wake maintenance, stress, and reward.
Research Interest
His lab uses molecular, optogenetic, anatomical and behavioral methods to identify and manipulate the neuronal circuits underlying brain arousal, with particular attention to sleep and wakefulness transitions. They also interested in the changes that occur in neuronal circuits in conditions of hyperarousal such as stress and drug addiction.
Publications
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Bonnavion, P., Jackson, A. C., Carter, M. E., de Lecea, L. (2015)Antagonistic interplay between hypocretin and leptin in the lateral hypothalamus regulates stress responses. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS 6.
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Rolls, A., Pang, W. W., Ibarra, I., Colas, D., Bonnavion, P., et al. (2015)Sleep disruption impairs haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in mice. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS 2015: 6
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Eban-Rothschild, A., Rothschild, G., Giardino, W. J., Jones, J. R., de Lecea, L. (2016) VTA dopaminergic neurons regulate ethologically relevant sleep-wake behaviors. Nature neuroscience 19: 1356-1366
