SUMMER RESEARCH TRAINING PLAN (a sketch)

The following is a rough description about what I plan to do in the laboratory this summer. It only contains the topic of neuroscience and not include the contents of interdisciplinary studies , which are also important parts supporting long-term and novel scientific research.
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This summer course will be made of two major parts. These parts will be integrated so that I can learn as many as possible in limited time. First of all, I will learn the techniques which are important in neuroscience research. At the same time, I will read more articles related to the fields that I am interested in. Through this process, I may find a topic with biological significance and investigate it vigorously and conscientiously.

The main techniques I will learn include Immunohistochemistry, quantitation of neurons/nerve fibers, morphometric studies, and animal surgical procedures. I will practice above-mentioned techniques and make myself be proficient at them. If there is a chance, I hope that I can also learn some techniques in cell biology. Maybe it is a good idea to combine experimental data both from molecular level and morphological level.

The major field that I am interested in is about the nerve degeneration, regeneration and nociception. Only limited time is available, so I will focus on the study in nerve degeneration and nociception. I will choose one factor that can cause nerve degeneration and evaluate its effects. According to previous studies, we can examine both temporal and spatial changes in skin innervation of the mouse footpad. For example, we can divide mouse into several groups. Then we sacrifice them in different time after the operation. In each group, we can use such as immunohistochemical techniques, fluorescence and electron microscopy to measure the changes in the areas we are concerned. If time is enough, maybe in the next semester, I want to investigate the nerve regeneration. We can continue the experiment which we have started, observing what will happen after the operation, maybe in a period of several months. Just like what previously described, we can use techniques such as immunohistochemistry to study the extent of regeneration. For example, we can study the reinnervation of skin. Also, we can measure the density and diameter of regenerating nerve and compare them with the control group. Electrophysiology is also fascinating, but it is much more complicated for me, so I think I need more time to study them.

Paralleling to the study of nerve degeneration, it is desirable to investigate the pain reaction. We can test the behavior of mouse in several ways. For example, we can measure how long a mouse will react to a stimulus which may be thermal, cold or mechanical.

For a beginner, it is urgent to absorb more knowledge on this field. This plan will be modified when I learn more things or when I come up some idea in the future.