Welcome to AD Lab
Understanding the Gene- Environment Interaction in Aging and Neurological disorder
Understanding the Gene- Environment Interaction in Aging and Neurological disorder
GFP labelled dopaminergic neurons of C.elegans
Perception of external cues helps in assessment of current environmental status, which is vital for making decisions related to immediate survival and increasing fitness. Our lab is interested in finding out how neuronal perception of various environmental cues such as diet, odor, or toxins affect physical and mental health, longevity, and risk of neurodegenerative diseases. We are utilizing nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans as a model to address our aim due to its short life cycle, genetic amenability and known neuronal connectome. Though C. elegans is evolutionarily distant from humans, around 60–80% of C. elegans genes have human homologs, with core aging, neuronal signaling, stress response and metabolism pathways conserved between the two species.
Our research is directed at answering the following broad questions:
Our recent research showed that olfactory neuron AWB mediated perception of an aversive odorant 2-nonanone decreases health and life span of C. elegans (Sarkar et al., 2024). 2-nonanone is commonly used as flavoring agent and food additive, and it is one of the principal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) secreted by pathogenic bacteria infecting both worms and humans. We are trying to optimize the dose and duration of pathogen associated VOCs exposure to gain positive outcome for health and disease.
In addition to this, our collaborative research with BLK-MAX hospital, New Delhi has shown that systemic inflammatory indices and axonal-injury biomarkers (particularly neurofilament light chain) are important to assess the severity and prognosis of Guillain Barre Syndrome (Maini et al., 2025).

Diagrammatic representation of neuronal perception of environmental cues in C. elegans (Dixit and Bhattacharya, 2021)

Olfaction enables disease detection through VOCs, while loss of smell serves as an early, non-invasive biomarker for diseases like COVID-19, AD, PD, autism, and cancer (Bhola et al., 2025).
1. Bhola A, Sharma A, Vashishth K, Dixit A*, 2025. Role of odour perception in health and disease. European Journal of Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.70425
2. Maini DK, Dixit A, Prasad A, Nanda S, Rehani V, Anand R, 2025. A retrospective observational study of clinical and electrophysiological types of Guillain-Barre syndrome from Delhi. J Family Med Prim Care. 14(6):2231-2236. Impact factor-1.0
3. Sarkar J, Vashisth K, Dixit A*, 2024. Exposure to an aversive odor alters Caenorhabditis elegans physiology. MicroPubl Biol. doi: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001198.
4. Maini DK, Dixit A, Sharma BK, Nanda S, Rehani V, Anand R, 2024. Journey of Guillain Barre syndrome from the pre‑pandemic era to the pandemic era: A 4‑year retrospective study. J Family Med Prim Care. 13(7):2623-2627. Impact factor-1.0
5. Mishra AK, Dixit A, 2021. Dopaminergic Axons: Key Recitalists in Parkinson's Disease. Neurochemical Research 47(2):234-248. Impact factor-3.8
6. Dixit A*, Bhattacharya B, 2021. Sensory perception of environmental cues as modulator of aging and neurodegeneration: Insights from C. elegans. Journal of Neuroscience Research 99(10):2416-2426. Impact factor-3.4
7. Dixit A, Sandhu S, Modi S, Shashikanth M, Koushika SP, Watts JL, Singh V, 2020. Neuronal control of lipid metabolism by STR‐2 G protein‐coupled receptor promotes longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Aging Cell. 19(6):e13160. Impact factor-7.1
8. Dixit A, Singh V, 2020. The brain-gut axis of longevity (editorial). Aging (Albany NY); 12:17754-17755. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging. Impact factor-5.6
9. Dixit A*, Mehta R, Singh AK, 2019. Proteomics in Human Parkinson's Disease: Present Scenario and Future Directions. Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology 39(7):901-915. Impact factor-4.8 (Review)
10. Agrawal S, Dixit A, Singh A, Tripathi P, Singh MP, 2015. Cyclosporine A and MnTMPyP alleviate α-synuclein expression and aggregation in cypermethrin-induced Parkinsonism. Molecular Neurobiology 52(3):1619-28. Impact factor-5.5
11. Mishra AK, Rasheed MS, Shukla S, Tripathi MK, Dixit A, Singh MP, 2014. Aberrant autophagy and Parkinsonism: Does correction rescue from disease progression? Mol. Neurobiol. 51(3):893-908. Impact factor-5.5
12. Dixit A, Srivastava G, Verma D, Mishra M, Singh PK, Prakash O, Singh MP, 2013. Minocycline, levodopa and MnTMPyP induced changes in the mitochondrial proteome profile of MPTP and maneb and paraquat mice models of Parkinson’s disease. Biochim. Biophys. Acta Mol. Basis Dis. 1832(8):1227-1240. Impact factor-4.2
13. Srivastava G, Dixit A, Yadav S, Patel DK, Prakash O, Singh MP, 2012. Resveratrol potentiates cytochrome P450 2d22-mediated neuroprotection in maneb- and paraquat-induced parkinsonism in the mouse. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 52(8):1294-1306. Impact factor-8.1
14. Yadav S#, Dixit A#, Agrawal S, Singh A, Srivastava G, Singh AK, Srivastava PK, Prakash O, Singh MP, 2012. Rodent Models and Contemporary Molecular Techniques: Notable Feats yet Incomplete Explanations of Parkinson’s disease Pathogenesis. Mol. Neurobiol. 46(2):495-512. Impact factor-5.5 (#equal contribution)
15. Srivastava G, Dixit A, Prakash O, Singh MP, 2011. Tiny non-coding RNAs in Parkinson's disease: Implications, expectations and hypes. Neurochem. Int. 59(6):759-769. Impact factor-3.9
16. Singh AK, Tiwari MN, Dixit A, Upadhyay G, Patel DK, Singh D, Prakash O, Singh MP, 2011. Nigrostriatal proteomics of cypermethrin-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration: microglial activation-dependent and -independent regulations. Toxicol. Sci. 122(2):526-538. Impact factor-4.0
1. Sharma K, Sarkar J, Trisal A, Ghosh R, Dixit A*, Singh AK, 2023. Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction to salvage cellular senescence for managing neurodegeneration. Adv Protein Chem Struct Biol. 136:309-337.
2. Gupta A, Bhaduri I, Dixit A*, 2024. Metabolomics in Neurodegenerative Disorders- Parkinson’s Disease. Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry, 104:161-181. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.coac.2023.09.008

Amity Institute of Neuropsychology and Neurosciences, Amity University, Noida
Dr. Dixit completed her PhD jointly from CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research and Banaras Hindu University in 2014, focusing on mitochondrial proteomics in Parkinson's disease models. She conducted postdoctoral research at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where she identified a chemosensory neuronal GPCR regulating lifespan in C. elegans. She joined Amity University, Noida in April 2018. Her research focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms of aging and neurodegeneration. She teaches Principles of Neuroscience, Fundamentals of Neurogenetics, Neuroethology, Behavioral and Social Neurobiology, and Sensory and Motor System.

Anisha Bhola
Investigating how chemosensory neurons translate dietary cues into signals that influence healthspan and longevity in C. elegans, with a focus on intergenerational effects — how nutritional memory passes from parent to offspring. Her work bridges sensory biology and metabolism to uncover fundamental rules that govern health.
Interests: Painting, sketching & travelling

Subhasmita Palai
M.Sc. Final Year Student
Studying the role of attractive odor in mitigating the harmful effects of aversive odor on C. elegans physiology, with a focus on understanding the resulting behavioral changes.
Interests: Dancing, web series & movies

Garima
B.Sc. 4th Year Student
Investigating the neuronal regulation of dietary choice in C. elegans, exploring how neural circuits guide decisions as fundamental as what to eat. Deeply interested in uncovering the biological principles that bridge neuronal activity to complex behavior.
Interests: Writing & photography

Spriha Bhattacharjee
B.Sc. 4th Year Student
Investigating the role of olfactory receptors in regulating aversive odor-induced behaviour in C. elegans, with a focus on the biological principles underlying neural circuits and behaviour.
Interests: Singing

Himanshi Gupta
B.Sc. 4th Year Student
Studying the effect of olfactory manipulation on Parkinson's disease phenotype in C. elegans, with a focus on understanding the associated behavioral changes.
Interests: Dancing, playing instruments & sports





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Amity University, Uttar Pradesh
Amity University provides institutional support and resources for cutting-edge research in neuroscience and neurodegeneration.
We welcome motivated students and researchers who are passionate about research in neuroscience and aging. Anubhuti Dixit's Lab offers research opportunities for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.
Full-time doctoral researchers willing to work on independent projects in sensory neurobiology, aging, and neurodegeneration.
Postdoctoral researchers with research expertise in life science or related fields to lead independent research project.
Please write to adixit3@amity.edu if you are interested in joining the lab or looking for collaboration.
Anubhuti Dixit's Lab
Amity Institute of Neuropsychology and Neurosciences Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Contact
Dr. Anubhuti Dixit
Amity Institute of Neuropsychology
and Neurosciences (AINN)
Amity University Uttar Pradesh
Room No. 214, J1 Block
Sector 125, Noida – 201313
Please write to adixit3@amity.edu if you are interested in joining the lab or looking for collaboration.
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