Chris Zimmerman

The Neurobiology of Interoception

The Zimmerman lab studies how the brain and body communicate with each other, with a focus on understanding how feedback signals from the internal organs influence learning and memory systems in the brain.

Our research brings together new tools and perspectives — from systems and computational neuroscience, machine learning, physiology, genomics, and biochemistry — with the goal of understanding the fundamental principles that govern body–brain communication. We are especially interested in discovering how sensory signals from the internal organs are represented in the brain and how these interoceptive representations contribute to cognitive processes like reward, motivation, learning, and memory. Our lab uses the gut–brain axis and feeding behavior as a powerful model system (with clinical relevance to obesity and eating disorders) for investigating these questions.

Neural circuits and dynamics
We use high-density Neuropixels recordings, brain-wide light sheet imaging, and other circuit tools to record and perturb neural dynamics in mice.

Computational modeling
We use machine learning tools and statistical models to identify structure in neural and behavioral data. We use RNN models to test how different learning algorithms could be implemented in the brain.

Body–brain physiology
We use targeted genetic and anatomical tools to precisely manipulate the sensory signals that arise from the GI tract during feeding and digestion.

Biochemistry and genomics
We use in vivo biochemical imaging and single-cell sequencing tools to study how feeding impacts the intracellular signaling pathways that promote plasticity and learning.