Education:

2009 - 2013     B.Sc. in Biology, Peking University, Beijing, China

2013 - 2018     Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

Research interests:

Cephalopods behavior and neurobiology.

Cephalopods (e.g., octopus, squid, and cuttlefish) have the most complex nervous system among invertebrates. Their extraordinary brains that have evolved independently from our own for over 600 million years, with unique neural algorithms such as those for color-change behavior and soft-body control. Both demand neural systems to generate extremely high-dimensional motor outputs. Cuttlefish orchestrate the size change of millions of skin pigment cells to generate camouflage patterns within seconds, while octopus can move their arms with nearly infinite degrees of freedom. By developing a large-scale imaging system to simultaneously track over 100,000 cells in freely moving cuttlefish, we uncovered an exploratory and iterative strategy that optimizes their camouflage patterns. Through 3D motion tracking of octopus arm movements, we further revealed the distributed neural control system underlying these complex motions. These findings promise to inspire new theories and applications in soft robotics and artificial intelligence.

Academic experiences:

2019 -2022, Postdoctoral Associate, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany

Selected publications:

1.      Woo, T.*, Liang, X.*, Evans, D., Fernandez, O., Kretschmer, F., Reiter, S., & Laurent, G. (2023). The Dynamics of Pattern Matching in Camouflaging Cuttlefish. Nature. 619 (7968), 122-128

2.      Liang, X., Holy, T. E., & Taghert, P. H. (2023). Polyphasic circadian neural circuits drive differential activities in multiple downstream rhythmic centers. Current Biology. 33 (2), 351-363.

3.      Liang, X., Holy, T. E., & Taghert, P. H. (2022). Circadian pacemaker neurons display co-phasic rhythms in basal calcium level and in fast calcium fluctuations. PNAS, 119(17).

4.      Liang, X., Ho, M. C., Zhang, Y., Li, Y., Wu, M. N., Holy, T. E., & Taghert, P. H. (2019). Morning and evening circadian pacemakers independently drive premotor centers via a specific dopamine relay. Neuron, 102(4), 843-857. Preview in the same issue of Neuron.

5.      Liang, X., Holy, T. E., & Taghert, P. H. (2017). A series of suppressive signals within the Drosophila circadian neural circuit generates sequential daily outputs. Neuron, 94(6), 1173–1189. Preview in the same issue of Neuron.

6.      Li, Q.*, Zhang, X.*, Hu, W.*, Liang, X.*, Zhang, F., Wang, L., Liu, Z.J., & Zhong, Y. (2016). Importin-7 mediates memory consolidation through regulation of nuclear translocation of training-activated MAPK in Drosophila. PNAS, 113(11), 3072-3077.

7.      Liang, X., Holy, T. E., & Taghert, P. H. (2016). Synchronous Drosophila circadian pacemakers display nonsynchronous Ca²⁺ rhythms in vivo. Science, 351(6276), 976-981. Recommended by F1000.