Education

09/2013-06/2016: Ph.D. in Physiology, South China Normal University, China

09/2002-06/2005: M.S. in Physiology, South China Normal University, China

09/1996-06/2000: B.S. in Biological Engineering, Nanchang University, China

Work Experience

12/2022-present: Professor, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, China

12/2018-12/2019: Visiting Scholar, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

12/2013-11/2022: Associate Professor, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, China

11/2008-11/2013: Lecturer, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, China

07/2005-10/2008: Teaching Assistant, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, China

Research Direction and Interests

The research direction of Meng’s lab is on the neural regulatory mechanism of bioactive substances on songbirds’ song learning and its implications for researching human speech. Songbirds' singing is similar to human speech, which is a complex vocal learning behavior and is regulated by a group of interconnected nerve nuclei in the brain. These song control nuclei have a certain degree of structural homology with the brain regions related to human vocal control, and may share some basic regulation mechanisms of vocal learning. Therefore, songbirds have become an important model animal to study the neural mechanism of vocal learning, which can not only shed light on avian vocal learning, but also provide an important reference for understanding the neural process of human speech learning and the treatment of speech disorders.

In recent years, the application of songbird model in interdisciplinary research of vocal behavior and neurobiology mainly focuses on the mechanism of vocal plasticity; the neurotransmitters, sex hormones and other bioactive substances regulated the song behavior; the effect of auditory feedback on song behavior and application of photogenetic technology and genomics in this field. We carried out the researches on the neural mechanism of songbird singing using electrophysiological technology, behavioral and other biological methods.

Committee and Broad Memberships

Committee Member, Comparative Physiology Professional Committee, Chinese Association for Physiological Sciences

Executive Member, Physiological Association of Jiangxi Province

Main Publications

1. Ning Xu, Yutao Zhang, Yalun Sun, Xueqing Song, Yangyang Cao, Xinqi Yang, Songhua Wang, Wei Meng*. Cholinergic signaling differentially regulates song premotor circuits to stabilize songs in songbirds. bioRxiv, 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.03.610982.（Corresponding Author）

2.Wan C, Song X, Zhang Z, Hu W, Chen Y, Sun W, Liu Z, Wang S, Meng W*. Voluntary exercise during puberty promotes spatial memory and hippocampal DG/CA3 synaptic transmission in mice. Cerebral Cortex, 2024, 34(1): bhad497.（Corresponding Author）

3、Zhang Y, Zhou L, Zuo J, Wang S, Meng W*. Analogies of human speech and bird song: From vocal learning behavior to its neural basis. Frontiers in psychology, 2023, 14: 1100969, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1100969.（Corresponding Author）

4、Zhang Y, Wang Q, Zheng Z, Sun Y, Niu Y, Li D*, Wang S, Meng W*. BDNF Enhances Electrophysiological Activity and Excitatory Synaptic Transmission of RA Projection Neurons in Adult Male Zebra Finches. Brain Research, 2023, 1801: 148208.（Corresponding Author）

5、Wang S, Liu S, Wang Q, Sun Y, Yao L, Li D, Meng W*. Dopamine Modulates Excitatory Synaptic Transmission by Activating Presynaptic D1-like Dopamine Receptors in the RA Projection Neurons of Zebra Finches. Frontiers in cellular neuroscience, 2020, 14: 126, doi: 10.3389/fncel.2020.00126.（Corresponding Author）

6、Wang S, Sun Y, Wang Q, Qiu Y, Yao L, Gong Y, Meng W*, Li D. Sexual dimorphism of inhibitory synaptic transmission in RA projection neurons of songbirds. Neuroscience letters, 2019, 709: 134377.（Corresponding Author）