Dr. Xiaoping Tong‘s research focuses on the biological functions of glial cells especially on oligodendrocyte lineage cells and astrocytes in the brain and their roles in neural diseases as well. Combining optogenetics, single-cell RNA- sequencing, electrophysiology, two photon imaging, electron microscopy, behavioral analysis and brain disease models, her team is seeking the new roles of glia-neuron interactions and the mechanism of glial- modulating/regulating synaptic plasticity to furtherly discovery how glial cells impact neuronal circuitry in brain diseases. The three main research directions are, 1) Biological functions of ion channels; 2) Glial cells functions in brain cognition; 3) The pathogenesis of brain diseases.