cmoon

CHEMICAL SENSES

Research Interests
My laboratory is studying the chemical senses of the brain.
The chemical senses have been spotlighted since Drs. Axel and Buck were awarded the Noble Prize in 2004 due to their pioneer works identifying odorant receptors and olfactory processes.
Our laboratory is studying the processes of olfaction using molecular, cellular, and morphological approaches.
Moreover, we are doing multidisciplinary translational researches for biomedical and bioengineering applications.

1. Structure and Functions of the Olfactory System
Our laboratory has tried to the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the olfactory signal transduction pathways.
The initial step of the olfactory pathways occurs by the interaction of odorous molecules with the odorant receptor(ORs)s in the olfactory cilia of olfactory sensory neurons(OSNs).
Investigating this detection process would be the beginning of having insights into understanding olfaction in depth.

Therefore, in our lab
1. Studying OR structure to understand the role of specific motifs of OR on its functions.
2. Studying the olfactory signaling pathway

2. Development of the Olfactory system
Our laboratory has tried to understand how neural stem cells can develop, mature, and finally integrate into the pre-existing neuronal circuit.
In the olfactory system, neuronal regeneration takes place during life. Thus the olfactory system is a good model for finding answers to this question.

Therefore, in our lab
1. Studying the developmental mechanism of the olfactory systems using rodent model systems
2. Studying the underlying cellular and molecular mechanism of development and regeneration in the olfactory systems

3. Neurodegenerative Diseases in the Olfactory System
Our laboratory has tried to understand why olfactory dysfunction appears in the early symptomatic stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology.
To date, there is no understanding of the mechanisms, implying that sensory systems may be more vulnerable to AD pathology than CNS as a whole.

Therefore, in our lab
1. Studying differences in structure and behavior in the olfactory system using AD model mice
2. Establishing the presymptomatic diagnosis of AD using human subject studies

4. Cognition in the Olfactory System
In many species, the olfactory system can play important role in survival such as reproduction and avoiding predators and foraging food.
However, compared with other sensory modalities, the olfactory system has less attention as a research topic and its cognition process has not been studied much.
In addition to structural and developmental studies, the study of the cognition process of the olfactory system can also offer important insight to understand this system.

Our laboratory has tried to understand the cognition process of odors such as odor categorization in the brain which could not be fully explained by peripheral the olfactory system.
To conduct this topic, we have used brain imaging devices such as electroencephalography(EEG) and fNIRS.

Therefore, in our lab,
1. Studying early olfactory processing in the human brain
2. Studying human odor categorization based on behavior and brain imaging studies
3. Studying human high cognition related to olfaction

Members

- Professor

Prof. Cheil Moon

Dr. Moon has got his Ph.D. degree in Neurobiology at Imperial College London (UK) in 1994. Then, he joined the Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1994, and has worked in the field of olfaction since then.
He has made many critical discoveries on olfactory signaling mechanisms and has published in many high-tier journals including Ann Reviews of Physiology, Neuron, PNAS, Journal of Neuroscience, and so on.
Since he became the very first faculty in the Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Daegu, Korea in 2009,
he has established a novel research field, olfactory system-related neurodegenerative disorders besides his own expertise in the olfactory signaling pathways. Recently,
he has expanded his research interests on olfactory dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease.

Currently, he is serving as the director of Convergence Research Advanced Centre for Olfaction, DGIST.

Phone : 053-785-6110
E-mail : cmoon(at)dgist.ac.kr
Office : E4-420