Theanne Griffith, Ph.D.

Research Interests

The ability to navigate our physical environment relies not only on the detection of external cues, but also an accurate sense of internal spatial awareness. If you wake up in the morning with an arm across your face, how do you know it is yours, and not that of a partner or intruder? The answer is proprioception. This “sixth sense” allows us to make a physical distinction between “self” and “other” and is required for purposeful and coordinated movement. Despite the essential nature of proprioception to most daily tasks, our understanding of how internal sensory information drives motor behaviors is limited. Using a combination of mouse genetics, diverse electrophysiological preparations, behavior, molecular profiling, and imaging, we aim to: 1) Identify the ion channels that constitute the transmission machinery in proprioceptive sensory circuits and the mechanisms through which they control proprioceptor neuronal excitability and neurotransmission; 2) Understand how proprioceptive sensory information shapes spinal cord motor circuit formation and function; 3) Investigate the long-range effects of sensory proprioceptive signaling on brain motor centers; 4) Understand how our internal spatial awareness of self interfaces with other physiological processes.