Ming Yi   Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience

Neuroscience Research Institute

Peking University

38 Xueyuan Road

Beijing 100083, China

Tel: + 86(0)10 8280 5083

Email: mingyi@hsc.pku.edu.cn

Academic experience

      Dr. Yi received his medical degree in Peking University Health Science Center, and Ph.D. training in John O’Keefe (2014 Nobel laureate) group in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology of University College London (UCL). Dr. Yi is currently a principal investigator and leads the Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience in Neuroscience Research Institute of Peking University.

Research: Neuronal basis and functional reconstruction of the memory system

      Learning and memory are crucial cognitive functions for daily life. On the other hand, pathological memories for exteroceptive and interoceptive stimuli underlie a variety of neurological diseases such as chronic pain (for nociception), port-traumatic stress disorder (for negative affect) and addiction (for abused substances). Memory traces are encoded and stored by subpopulations of interconnected engram cells widely distributed in the brain.

      Yi’s lab, with combinative application of in vivo and in vitro electrophysiology, behavioral testing, opto- and chemo-genetics and molecular biology, focuses on the fascinating and challenging work to understand the neuronal basis of memory and its dysfunction under pathological conditions, to enhance memory functions in animals and humans, and to functionally reconstruct the memory system impaired in various neurological disorders. Our previous work has revealed how hippocampal networks undergo progressive functional deterioration in Alzheimer’s disease (PNAS. 2008) and chronic pain (J Neurosci. 2017; Pain. 2018; Cell Rep. 2019; Cell Rep. 2023), and how these electrophysiological changes correlate with behavioural and pathological alterations. Recently, the lab has achieved erasure of specific fear (Sci Adv. 2020) and pain (Cell Rep. 2022) memory traces from rat neocortices with genetic tools. Ongoing work is focused on functional reconstruction of memory functions through traditional pharmacological methods and novel neural modulation and engineering strategies.

Representative publications

1. Shao S, Zheng Y, Fu Z, Wang J, Zhang Y, Wang C, Qi X, Gong T, Ma L, Lin X, Yu H, Wan Y, Zhang H, Yi M. Ventral hippocampal CA1 modulates pain behaviors in mice with peripheral inflammation. Cell Rep. 2023; 42(1): 112017.

2. Qi X, Cui K, Zhang Y, Wang L, Tong J, Sun W, Shao S, Wang J, Wang C, Sun X, Xiao L, Xi K, Cui S, Liu F, Ma L, Zheng J, Yi M, Wan Y. A nociceptive neuronal ensemble in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex underlies pain chronicity. Cell Rep. 2022; 41(11):111833.

3. Sun H, Fu S, Yin X, Sun X, Qi X, Cui K, Wang J, Ma L, Liu FY, Cui S, Liao FF, Wang XH, Yi M, Wan Y. Development of CRISPR-SaCas9 system for projection- and function-specific gene editing in the rat brain. Sci Adv. 2020; 6: eaay6687.

4. Ma L, Yue L, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Han B, Cui S, Liu FY, Wan Y, Yi M. Spontaneous pain disrupts ventral hippocampal CA1-infralimbic cortex connectivity and modulates pain progression in rats with peripheral inflammation. Cell Rep. 2019;29:1579–1593.

5. Ma L, Zhang Y, Yue L, Zhang X, Cui S, Liu F, Wan Y, Yi M. Anterior cingulate cortex modulates the affective-motivative dimension of hyperosmolality-induced thirst. J Physiol. 2019; 597(18):4851-4860. 

6. Jiang Y, Shao S, Zhang Y, Zheng J, Chen X, Cui S, Liu FY, Wan Y, Yi M. Neural pathways in medial septal cholinergic modulation of chronic pain: distinct contribution of anterior cingulate cortex and ventral hippocampus. Pain. 2018. 159(8):1550-1561.

7. Peng WW, Xia XL, Yi M, Huang G, Zhang ZG, Iannetti GD, Hu L. Brain oscillations reflecting pain-related behavior in freely moving rats. Pain. 2018. 159(1):106–118. 

8. Fan XC, Fu S, Liu FY, Cui S, Yi M, Wan Y. Hypersensitivity of prelimbic cortex neurons contributes to aggravated nociceptive responses in rats with experience of chronic inflammatory pain. Front Mol Neurosci. 2018. 11:85. 

9. Zheng J, Jiang YY, Xu LC, Ma LY, Liu FY, Cui S, Cai J, Liao FF, Wan Y, Yi M. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis along the dorsoventral axis contributes differentially to environmental enrichment combined with voluntary exercise in alleviating chronic inflammatory pain in mice. J Neurosci. 2017; 37(15):4145-4157. 

10. Liu Y, Lai S, Ma W, Ke W, Zhang C, Liu S, Zhang Y, Pei F, Li S, Yi M, Shu Y, Shang Y, Liang J, Huang Z. CDYL suppresses epileptogenesis in mice through repression of axonal Nav1.6 sodium channel expression. Nat Commun. 2017;8(1):355. 

11. Yi M, Zhang H. Nociceptive memory in the brain: cortical mechanisms of chronic pain. J Neurosci. 2011. 31:13343-13345. 

12. Cacucci F *, Yi M *, Wills TJ, Chapman P, O'Keefe J. Place cell firing correlates with memory deficits and amyloid plaque burden in Tg2576 Alzheimer mouse model. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008; 105(22): 7863-8.  

Funding

1. 2023 National Natural Science Foundation (32271053)

2. 2023 Beijing Natural Science Foundation (L222016)

3. 2019 National Natural Science Foundation (31872774)

4. 2018 Beijing Natural Science Foundation (5182013)

5. 2015 National Basic Research Program of MOST (2015CB554503)

6. 2014 National Basic Research Program of MOST (2014CB548200)

7. 2012 National Natural Science Foundation (31200835)

Teaching

1. “Cognitive functions of the brain”, in Advanced Neurobiology

2. “In vivo electrophysiology and optogenetics”, in Research Methods in Neurobiology

3. “Advances in hippocampal physiology and function”, in Advances in Neuroscience

4. “Neurobiology”, in Foundation of Scientific Research