Our laboratory aims to understand the ciliary signaling pathways that modulate autophagy in the central nervous system. Neurons and astrocytes possess a primary cilium that responds to extracellular events, such as hormones and neurotrophic factors, which are able to modulate autophagy. Our studies focus on characterizing the mechanisms that govern these interactions between autophagy and the primary cilium, as well as the alterations that could contribute to the accumulation of toxic components in the brain.