A fundamental question in neuroscience is how we perceive and respond to our environment. Our laboratory uses mouse molecular genetics, circuit mapping, and electrophysiological analyses to gain an understanding of the development, organization, and function of neural circuits that underlie the sense of touch. Mouse molecular genetic approaches are used to identify, visualize, and functionally manipulate each of the physiologically defined classes of low-threshold mechanosensory neurons (LTMRs), the primary cutaneous sensory neurons that mediate the sense of touch. We have also gained genetic access to neurons that receive and process LTMR inputs in the spinal cord and propagate this information to the brain. Our current goals are to discover: 1) unique functions and properties of LTMR subtypes; 2) the organization and logic of synaptic connections between LTMR subtypes, spinal cord dorsal horn interneurons and projection neurons, and dorsal column nuclei neurons; 3) ascending pathways that underlie the perception of touch, 4) cellular and circuit level alterations that underlie touch sensitivity deficits in autism spectrum disorders and neuropathic pain, and; 5) mechanisms by which primary somatosensory neurons and touch circuit organization are established during development.
Dr. David D. Ginty (born 1962) is an American  and .
David graduated from  and received his Ph.D. degree in  from  for graduate work with Edward Seidel, on the regulation of  compounds and their metabolism during cell growth and proliferation. Moving to , David completed his postdoctoral research, first, with John Wagner at the  at , and then with Michael Greenberg at , where he made several seminal contributions to  and  signaling in neurons.
In 1995, David was invited by  to move to , , to become a new faculty member of the Department of  at the . In 2000, he became an investigator of the . David remained a faculty member at  for 18 years. In the fall of 2013, David and his laboratory moved from  to , MA, where he became the Edward R. and Anne G. Lefler Professor of Neurobiology in the Department of Neurobiology at , while maintaining his status of an  investigator.
In the 1990s, David received several  awards including a , a  Award, and the Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Award from the March of Dimes.[] After becoming established, he received a  Neuroscience Investigator's Award from the . In 2015, David was elected into the . In 2017, David was elected to the .
His lab at  discovered functions and mechanisms of action of neuronal growth factors and axon guidance cues, and mechanisms of assembly and functional organization of the neural circuits that underlie autonomic functions and the sense of touch. His lab at  uses a variety of techniques including genetics, circuit mapping, and  analyses to gain understanding of the development, organization, and function of neural circuits that underlie the sense of touch. He uses mouse molecular genetic approaches to identify, visualize, and functionally manipulate physiologically defined classes of low-threshold mechanosensory neurons (LTMRs), the primary cutaneous sensory neurons that mediate the sense of touch, as well as spinal cord neurons that process LTMR information and convey it to the brain.