About

Byungkook Lim, Ph.D., is the Principal Investigator at LIM LAB. The page lists him as the lead researcher, but does not provide specific details about his research focus, background, or key contributions. The content primarily includes team members, including postdoctoral scholars, project scientists, graduate students, and staff, but does not contain a detailed biography or description of his work.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Electronic engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Telecommunications
• Psychology
• Engineering
• Neuroscience
• Physics
• Biology

Selected publications

• Complementary cortical and thalamic contributions to cell type–specific striatal activity dynamics during movement

  Science Advances · 2026-01-28

  articleOpen access

  Coordinated motor behavior emerges from information flow across brain regions. How long-range inputs drive cell type-specific activity within motor circuits remains unclear. The dorsolateral striatum (DLS) contains direct- and indirect-pathway medium spiny neurons (dMSNs and iMSNs) with distinct roles in movement control. In mice performing skilled locomotion, we recorded from dMSNs, iMSNs, and their cortical and thalamic inputs identified by monosynaptic rabies tracing. A recurrent neural network (RNN) classifier and clustering analysis revealed functionally heterogeneous subpopulations in each population, with dMSNs preferentially activated at movement onset and offset, and iMSNs during execution. Cortical and thalamic inputs were preferentially activated during onset/offset and execution, respectively, though dMSN- and iMSN-projecting neurons in each region showed similar patterns. Locomotion phase-specific rhythmic activity was found in a subset of thalamic dMSN-projecting neurons and dMSNs. Cortex or thalamus inactivation reduced MSN activity. These findings suggest that corticostriatal and thalamostriatal inputs convey complementary motor signals via shared and cell type-specific pathways.

  PublisherDOI

• Complementary cortical and thalamic contributions to cell-type-specific striatal activity dynamics during movement

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2025-12-22

  otherOpen access

  Coordinated motor behavior emerges from information flow across brain regions. How long-range inputs influence cell-type-specific activity within motor circuits remains unclear. The dorsolateral striatum (DLS) contains direct- and indirect-pathway medium spiny neurons (dMSNs and iMSNs) that exhibit distinct roles in movement control, and receives converging cortical and thalamic inputs. We performed 2-photon imaging from dMSNs, iMSNs, and their cortical and thalamic inputs identified by monosynaptic rabies tracing, as mice executed a skilled locomotion task. We used recurrent neural network (RNN) classifiers and hierarchical clustering analyses to reveal functionally heterogeneous subpopulations in each population. We found that dMSNs were preferentially active at movement onset and offset, and iMSNs during execution. Cortical and thalamic inputs were preferentially active during onset/offset and execution, respectively. dMSN- and iMSN-projecting neurons in each region showed similar trial-averaged activity patterns, although single-trial features might contribute to cell-type-specific differences. Furthermore, a subset of thalamic neurons projecting to dMSNs encoded rhythmic limb movements in a locomotion phase-specific manner, a pattern also found in a small subset of dMSNs. Inactivation of either cortex or thalamus substantially reduced MSN activity. These results suggest that corticostriatal and thalamostriatal inputs contribute complementary motor-related information via shared and cell-type-specific pathways.

  PublisherDOI

• Complementary cortical and thalamic contributions to cell-type-specific striatal activity dynamics during movement

  DRYAD · 2025-12-18

  datasetOpen access

  Coordinated motor behavior emerges from information flow across brain regions. How long-range inputs influence cell-type-specific activity within motor circuits remains unclear. The dorsolateral striatum (DLS) contains direct- and indirect-pathway medium spiny neurons (dMSNs and iMSNs) that exhibit distinct roles in movement control, and receives converging cortical and thalamic inputs. We performed 2-photon imaging from dMSNs, iMSNs, and their cortical and thalamic inputs identified by monosynaptic rabies tracing, as mice executed a skilled locomotion task. We used recurrent neural network (RNN) classifiers and hierarchical clustering analyses to reveal functionally heterogeneous subpopulations in each population. We found that dMSNs were preferentially active at movement onset and offset, and iMSNs during execution. Cortical and thalamic inputs were preferentially active during onset/offset and execution, respectively. dMSN- and iMSN-projecting neurons in each region showed similar trial-averaged activity patterns, although single-trial features might contribute to cell-type-specific differences. Furthermore, a subset of thalamic neurons projecting to dMSNs encoded rhythmic limb movements in a locomotion phase-specific manner, a pattern also found in a small subset of dMSNs. Inactivation of either cortex or thalamus substantially reduced MSN activity. These results suggest that corticostriatal and thalamostriatal inputs contribute complementary motor-related information via shared and cell-type-specific pathways.

  PublisherDOI

• Complementary cortical and thalamic contributions to cell-type-specific striatal activity dynamics during movement

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-07-17

  preprint

  Coordinated motor behavior emerges from information flow across brain regions. How long-range inputs drive cell-type-specific activity within motor circuits remains unclear. The dorsolateral striatum (DLS) contains direct- and indirect-pathway medium spiny neurons (dMSNs and iMSNs) with distinct roles in movement control. In mice performing skilled locomotion, we recorded from dMSNs, iMSNs, and their cortical and thalamic inputs identified by monosynaptic rabies tracing. An RNN classifier and clustering analysis revealed functionally heterogeneous subpopulations in each population, with dMSNs preferentially activated at movement onset and offset, and iMSNs during execution. Cortical and thalamic inputs were preferentially activated during onset/offset and execution, respectively, though dMSN- and iMSN-projecting neurons in each region showed similar patterns. Locomotion phase-specific rhythmic activity was found in a subset of thalamic dMSN-projecting neurons and dMSNs. Cortex or thalamus inactivation reduced MSN activity. These findings suggest that corticostriatal and thalamostriatal inputs convey complementary motor signals via shared and cell-type-specific pathways.

  PublisherDOI

• Complementary cortical and thalamic contributions to cell-type-specific striatal activity dynamics during movement

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2025-12-22

  otherOpen access

  Coordinated motor behavior emerges from information flow across brain regions. How long-range inputs influence cell-type-specific activity within motor circuits remains unclear. The dorsolateral striatum (DLS) contains direct- and indirect-pathway medium spiny neurons (dMSNs and iMSNs) that exhibit distinct roles in movement control, and receives converging cortical and thalamic inputs. We performed 2-photon imaging from dMSNs, iMSNs, and their cortical and thalamic inputs identified by monosynaptic rabies tracing, as mice executed a skilled locomotion task. We used recurrent neural network (RNN) classifiers and hierarchical clustering analyses to reveal functionally heterogeneous subpopulations in each population. We found that dMSNs were preferentially active at movement onset and offset, and iMSNs during execution. Cortical and thalamic inputs were preferentially active during onset/offset and execution, respectively. dMSN- and iMSN-projecting neurons in each region showed similar trial-averaged activity patterns, although single-trial features might contribute to cell-type-specific differences. Furthermore, a subset of thalamic neurons projecting to dMSNs encoded rhythmic limb movements in a locomotion phase-specific manner, a pattern also found in a small subset of dMSNs. Inactivation of either cortex or thalamus substantially reduced MSN activity. These results suggest that corticostriatal and thalamostriatal inputs contribute complementary motor-related information via shared and cell-type-specific pathways.

  PublisherDOI

• Cholinergic feedback for context-specific modulation of sensory representations

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  • Biology

  Abstract The brain’s ability to prioritize behaviorally relevant sensory information is crucial for adaptive behavior, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated the role of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in modulating olfactory bulb (OB) circuits in mice. Calcium imaging of cholinergic feedback axons in OB revealed that their activity is strongly correlated with orofacial movements, with little responses to passively experienced odor stimuli. However, when mice engaged in an odor discrimination task, OB cholinergic axons rapidly shifted their response patterns from movement-correlated activity to odor-aligned responses. Notably, these odor responses during olfactory task engagement were absent in cholinergic axons projecting to the dorsal cortex. The level of odor responses correlated with task performance. Inactivation of OB-projecting cholinergic neurons during task engagement impaired performance and reduced odor responses in OB granule cells. Thus, the cholinergic system dynamically modulates sensory processing in a modality-specific and context-dependent manner, providing a mechanism for a flexible and adaptive sensory prioritization.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Fully Implantable Low-Power High Frequency Range Optoelectronic Devices for Dual-Channel Modulation in the Brain

  Sensors · 2020 · 14 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Electrical engineering
  • Computer Science

  Wireless optoelectronic devices can deliver light to targeted regions in the brain and modulate discrete circuits in an animal that is awake. Here, we propose a miniaturized fully implantable low-power optoelectronic device that allows for advanced operational modes and the stimulation/inhibition of deep brain circuits in a freely-behaving animal. The combination of low power control logic circuits, including a reed switch and dual-coil wireless power transfer platform, provides powerful capabilities for the dissection of discrete brain circuits in wide spatial coverage for mouse activity. The actuating mechanism enabled by a reed switch results in a simplified, low-power wireless operation and systematic experimental studies that are required for a range of logical operating conditions. In this study, we suggest two different actuating mechanisms by (1) a magnet or (2) a radio-frequency signal that consumes only under 300 µA for switching or channel selection, which is a several ten-folds reduction in power consumption when compared with any other existing systems such as embedded microcontrollers, near field communication, and Bluetooth. With the efficient dual-coil transmission antenna, the proposed platform leads to more advantageous power budgets that offer improved volumetric and angular coverage in a cage while minimizing the secondary effects associated with a corresponding increase in transmitted power.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Sung Il Park

  Sungkyunkwan University

  2 shared

• Minju Jeong

  University of California, San Diego

  2 shared

• Brianna L. Berceau

  Northwestern University

  1 shared

• Uree Chon

  Pennsylvania State University

  1 shared

• Takaki Komiyama

  University of California, San Diego

  1 shared

• Qiaoling Cui

  1 shared

• Bin Yu

  1 shared

• Raj Awatramani

  Northwestern University

  1 shared

Labs

• LIM LABPI

Awards & honors

• Kingenstein-Simmons Fellowship
• Searle Scholar Fellowship
• NIMH Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scient…
• BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN) awards