Shinjini Basu

Shinjini Basu's staff profile and research.

Contact type
Person
First name
Shinjini
Surname
Basu
Role
PhD Student - Kind Lab
Organisation 1
Hugh Robson Building
Organisation 2
15 George Square
Organisation 3
EH8 9DX
Work phone
+44 (131) 650 3741
Email
S1002974@sms.ed.ac.uk

Personal Profile 

  • 2015-Present – PhD Biomedical Sciences (Integrative Physiology) at the University of Edinburgh
  • 2014-2015 – MSc by Research Biomedical Sciences (Integrative Physiology) at the University of Edinburgh
  • 2010 – 2014 – BSc Honours Biomedical Sciences (Medical Sciences) at the University of Edinburgh

Research 

Abnormalities in sensory processing and increased seizure susceptibility are core symptoms associated with Autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability (ASD/ID). Numerous cellular changes contribute to these phenotypes, however, a key regulator of cellular excitability, the axon initial segment (AIS), has not been previously examined. The AIS is the site of action potential generation and as such plays a critical role in regulating cellular excitability. My project directly tests the hypothesis that changes in the AIS length contribute to altered cellular excitability and explores the idea of convergence of diverse genetic causes on common cellular pathways. To this effect, we have measured alterations in AIS length across multiple brain regions in six distinct mutations in synaptic-proteins known to cause ASD/ID including Fmr1, Syngap, Neuroligin-3, Neurexin-1, PTen and Cntnap2.

Relevant Publications 

Brown S. S. G., Basu S, Whalley H.C., Kind P. C., Stanfield A. C. Age-related functional brain changes in FMR1premutation carriers NeuroImage: Clinical (2017)