Cancer Biology from a systems neuroscience perspective
Patients with cancer frequently experience debilitating symptoms that can impair quality of life and reduce odds of survival. These include drastic changes in appetite, sleep/wake cycles, cognitive function, and pain, among others. Our lab aims to uncover mechanistic interactions between the brain and cancer that drive these phenomena. Reciprocally, we investigate how manipulation of specific brain circuits influences cancer processes in the body.
Cancer causes systemic disruption. Through nervous, endocrine, metabolic, and immune (NEMI) pathways, the brain senses changes in the periphery caused by tumors. The brain responds through these systems and powerfully through the autonomic nervous system. This cross-talk results in many symptoms associated with cancer, and influence how the tumor grows and metastasizes. My work aims to understand how the brain and cancer talk to each other, leading to changes in sleep, behavior, resistance to treatment, and tumor progression. (Credit: Borniger & Nevarez, 2019)
IMPORTANT: Visitors are welcome to use any media on this site, as long as the author (Jeremy C Borniger, PhD), is credited. Please send an email (bornige@cshl.edu) for express consent.
Banner image: Slices from somatostatin-cre/Ai14 mice, male section on right, female section on left.
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A bittersweet farewell to the labs first postdoc, @NikitaFrancis07 . It’s been a wild journey over the past 3 yea… https://t.co/XR6bIfUJbn