Yale University · NeuroscienceThe Vagus Connection Lab
Rui Chang · New Haven, Connecticut
Research Focus
Dr. Rui Chang's lab at Yale University focuses on understanding how the brain senses signals from the body's internal organs through the vagus nerve. Using advanced molecular and genetic techniques, the lab investigates the architecture and functioning of this vital communication pathway. Their research aims to reveal how different visceral inputs are encoded and processed, paving the way for new insights into health and disease related to interoception, or the sense of the internal state of the body.
vagus nerveinteroceptionneural circuitrygenetic profilingsensory signalsmolecular architecturebrain-body communicationelectrophysiologyvisceral organs
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate the molecular and functional architecture of the vagus nerve.
AIM 02Determine the genetic signatures associated with different visceral organs.
AIM 03Characterize how diverse body signals are encoded by the vagus nerve.
Skills the Lab Values
molecular techniquesgenetic analysiselectrophysiologyimaging techniquesneuroscience methodologiesfluorescent in situ hybridizationdata analysis in computational biologyanimal model studiestissue dissection
Output against the department
Publications56bottom 13% of dept.581st of 671
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations4.8kbottom 36% of dept.432nd of 671
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.