Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Profil
Forschungsthemen36
BCCN II: Spikelet Activity and Hippocampal Spatial Representations (TP A2)
Quelle ↗Förderer: Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt Zeitraum: 06/2010 - 12/2015 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Bernstein Centre for Computational Neuroscience Berlin
Quelle ↗Förderer: Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt Zeitraum: 09/2004 - 09/2011 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Burst-Feuern im Präsubikulum und die visuelle Verankerung vestibulärer Signale
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Sachbeihilfe Zeitraum: 04/2019 - 03/2022 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Cellular Neuroscience: School of Cognition
Quelle ↗Förderer: Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt Zeitraum: 01/2019 - 12/2021 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Centre for Computational Neuroscience Berlin - Teilprojekt A 1: Investigating sub-millisecond dynamics through single-spike probabilities
Quelle ↗Förderer: Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt Zeitraum: 09/2004 - 08/2009 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
CL: NeuroCure-Kollaboration mit Prof. Alison Barth, Gastaufenthalt im BCCN
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Exzellenzinitiative Cluster Zeitraum: 01/2010 - 10/2012 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Collaborative Research: CRCNS Data Sharing of Intracellular Recordings from the Neocortex
Quelle ↗Zeitraum: 01/2008 - 12/2009 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Die Rolle von Geschlechtshormonen für die Funktion des somatosensorischen Kortex
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Sachbeihilfe Zeitraum: 01/2018 - 06/2021 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Dynamik von elektrisch gekoppelten neuronalen Netzen
Quelle ↗Förderer: ESB: Forschungsvorhaben Zeitraum: 11/2017 - 10/2020 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
ENCODS 2018, Science & Society Session “Methods of an Embodied Mind”
Quelle ↗Zeitraum: 03/2018 - 09/2018 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht, Margret Brigitte Franke
ERC: From Neuron to Behavior (Neuro-Behavior)
Quelle ↗Zeitraum: 02/2009 - 01/2014 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
Quelle ↗Zeitraum: 01/2008 - 06/2012 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
EU: The Neuroscience of Tickling: Cerebellar Mechanisms and Sensory Prediction (NeuroTick)
Quelle ↗Förderer: Horizon 2020: Individual Fellowship Global (IF-G) Zeitraum: 09/2019 - 08/2022 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
EXC 2049: Comprehensive Approaches to Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders (NeuroCure)
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Exzellenzstrategie Cluster Zeitraum: 01/2019 - 12/2025 Projektleitung: Prof. Andrew Plested, Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Isabel Dziobek, Prof. Dr. Matthew Larkum, Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Peter Hegemann
EXC 257/1: Dendric Mechanisms of Neural Plasticity and Episodic Memory Formation in the Mammalian Hippocampus
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Exzellenzinitiative Cluster Zeitraum: 07/2008 - 12/2008 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
FOR 1346/1: Cellular and Synaptic Analysis of Rodent Social Facial Touch (TP 09)
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Forschungsgruppe Zeitraum: 02/2013 - 01/2016 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
FOR 5768/1: Mittelhirn- und Hirnstamm-Kontrolle von Vokalisationen in neutralen und spielerischen Kontexten (TP 04)
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Forschungsgruppe Zeitraum: 01/2026 - 12/2029 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Programm
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Leibniz-Preis Zeitraum: 07/2012 - 06/2021 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
GRK 1589/2: Verarbeitung sensorischer Informationen in neuronalen Systemen
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Graduiertenkolleg Zeitraum: 01/2016 - 12/2019 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Intrasurgical stimulation of the human cerebral cortex – from basic physiology to cognition
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Exzellenzinitiative Cluster Zeitraum: 11/2017 - 12/2018 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Reinhardt Koselleck-Projekt: Untersuchung der Neurobiologie großer Gehirne am Beispiel des Elefanten
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG sonstige Programme Zeitraum: 07/2025 - 06/2030 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Röntgen-Kontrastmittel für Hirnstrukturen
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Sachbeihilfe Zeitraum: 10/2025 - 09/2028 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht, Prof. Stefan Hecht, Ph.D.
Röntgen-Kontrastmittel für Hirnstrukturen
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Sachbeihilfe Zeitraum: 02/2026 - 01/2029 Projektleitung: Prof. Stefan Hecht, Ph.D., Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
SFB 1315/1: Die Bildung und Konsolidierung sozialer Gedächtnisspuren im ventralen Hippocampus (TP A03)
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Sonderforschungsbereich Zeitraum: 07/2018 - 06/2022 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
SFB 1315/2: Ein komparativer Forschungsansatz zur Konsolidierung des Verwandtschaftsgedächtnisses (TP A03)
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Sonderforschungsbereich Zeitraum: 07/2022 - 06/2026 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht, Prof. Dr. Marina Mikhaylova
SFB 665/2: Erfahrungsabhängige Entwicklung von Beutefang und Hirnrinden-Arealen in der Etrusker-Spitzmaus (TP B10)
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Sonderforschungsbereich Zeitraum: 07/2009 - 06/2017 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
SPACEBRAIN – Structure-Function Relationship in Rodent Presubiculum
Quelle ↗Förderer: DAAD Zeitraum: 01/2017 - 12/2018 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Spike choreographie: Role of neuronal dynamics in sensory-motor encoding and decoding
Quelle ↗Zeitraum: 10/2006 - 10/2008 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
SPP 1665: Schaltkreis-Mechanismen der Phasenpräzession: Experiment und Theorie
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Schwerpunktprogramm Zeitraum: 01/2017 - 12/2019 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Richard Kempter
SPP 1665: Schaltkreis-Mechanismen der Phasenpräzession: Experiment und Theorie
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Schwerpunktprogramm Zeitraum: 11/2016 - 12/2019 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Strukturelle, neuronale und mentale Grundlagen der Kitzligkeit der Ratte
Quelle ↗Förderer: DFG Sachbeihilfe Zeitraum: 01/2018 - 12/2020 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
The Axonal Code of Information Processing
Quelle ↗Förderer: Einstein Stiftung Berlin Zeitraum: 07/2014 - 12/2017 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
The Self-Teaching Brain (BrainPlay)
Quelle ↗Förderer: Horizon 2020: ERC Synergy Grant Zeitraum: 08/2019 - 10/2026 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Untersuchungen zur Eignung von 54-Liter-Standardaquarien zur tierschutzgerechten Pflege von Aquarienfischen
Quelle ↗Förderer: Spenden von privaten Mittelgebern (DM) Zeitraum: 04/2014 - 12/2026 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
VA: Bernstein Conference 2016: Teilnehmergebühren
Quelle ↗Zeitraum: 09/2016 - 12/2025 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht, Margret Brigitte Franke
Winter School Ethics and Neuroscience 2018
Quelle ↗Förderer: Internationale Fachgesellschaften Zeitraum: 02/2018 - 12/2026 Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
Mögliche Industrie-Partner10
Stand: 26.4.2026, 19:48:44 (Top-K=20, Min-Cosine=0.4)
- 74 Treffer85.0%
- EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)K85.0%
- EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
- 98 Treffer59.3%
- Tiere zum Sprechen bringen. Logistik, Wissenschaft, PräsentationP59.3%
- Tiere zum Sprechen bringen. Logistik, Wissenschaft, Präsentation
- 105 Treffer58.3%
- EU: Simulation in Multiscale Physical and Biological Systems (STIMULATE)T58.3%
- EU: Simulation in Multiscale Physical and Biological Systems (STIMULATE)
NVIDIA GmbH
PT105 Treffer58.3%- EU: Simulation in Multiscale Physical and Biological Systems (STIMULATE)T58.3%
- EU: Simulation in Multiscale Physical and Biological Systems (STIMULATE)
- 116 Treffer58.3%
- EU: Simulation in Multiscale Physical and Biological Systems (STIMULATE)T58.3%
- EU: Bottom-Up Generation of atomicalLy Precise syntheTIc 2D MATerials for High Performance in Energy and Electronic Applications – A Multi-Site Innovative Training Action (ULTIMATE)P44.9%
- EU: Simulation in Multiscale Physical and Biological Systems (STIMULATE)
Protatuans-Etaireia Ereynas Viotechologias Monoprosopi Etaireia Periorisments Eythinis
PT29 Treffer57.1%- Systematic Models for Biological Systems Engineering Training NetworkP57.1%
- Systematic Models for Biological Systems Engineering Training Network
- 34 Treffer57.1%
- Systematic Models for Biological Systems Engineering Training NetworkP57.1%
- Systematic Models for Biological Systems Engineering Training Network
- 34 Treffer57.1%
- Systematic Models for Biological Systems Engineering Training NetworkP57.1%
- Systematic Models for Biological Systems Engineering Training Network
- 33 Treffer57.1%
- Systematic Models for Biological Systems Engineering Training NetworkP57.1%
- Systematic Models for Biological Systems Engineering Training Network
- 62 Treffer57.1%
- Embodied Audition for RobotSP57.1%
- Embodied Audition for RobotS
Publikationen25
Top 25 nach Zitationen — Quelle: OpenAlex (BAAI/bge-m3 embedded für Matching).
Science · 606 Zitationen · DOI
Sensory maps in neocortex are adaptively altered to reflect recent experience and learning. In somatosensory cortex, distinct patterns of sensory use or disuse elicit multiple, functionally distinct forms of map plasticity. Diverse approaches-genetics, synaptic and in vivo physiology, optical imaging, and ultrastructural analysis-suggest a distributed model in which plasticity occurs at multiple sites in the cortical circuit with multiple cellular/synaptic mechanisms and multiple likely learning rules for plasticity. This view contrasts with the classical model in which the map plasticity reflects a single Hebbian process acting at a small set of cortical synapses.
Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology · 535 Zitationen · DOI
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 486 Zitationen · DOI
It is becoming increasingly clear that single cortical neurons encode complex and behaviorally relevant signals, but efficient means to study gene functions in small networks and single neurons in vivo are still lacking. Here, we establish a method for genetic manipulation and subsequent phenotypic analysis of individual cortical neurons in vivo. First, lentiviral vectors are used for neuron-specific gene delivery from alpha-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II or Synapsin I promoters, optionally in combination with gene knockdown by means of U6 promoter-driven expression of short-interfering RNAs. Second, the phenotypic analysis at the level of single cortical cells is carried out by using two-photon microscopy-based techniques: high-resolution two-photon time-lapse imaging is used to monitor structural dynamics of dendritic spines and axonal projections, whereas cellular response properties are analyzed electrophysiologically by two-photon microscopy directed whole-cell recordings. This approach is ideally suited for analysis of gene functions in individual neurons in the intact brain.
Behavioural Brain Research · 478 Zitationen · DOI
Nature · 469 Zitationen · DOI
Nature · 431 Zitationen · DOI
Consciousness and Cognition · 384 Zitationen · DOI
Progress in Neurobiology · 360 Zitationen · DOI
Neocortex, the neuronal structure at the base of the remarkable cognitive skills of mammals, is a layered sheet of neuronal tissue composed of juxtaposed and interconnected columns. A cortical column is considered the basic module of cortical processing present in all cortical areas. It is believed to contain a characteristic microcircuit composed of a few thousand neurons. The high degree of cortical segmentation into vertical columns and horizontal layers is a boon for scientific investigation because it eases the systematic dissection and functional analysis of intrinsic as well as extrinsic connections of the column. In this review we will argue that in order to understand neocortical function one needs to combine a microscopic view, elucidating the workings of the local columnar microcircuits, with a macroscopic view, which keeps track of the linkage of distant cortical modules in different behavioral contexts. We will exemplify this strategy using the model system of vibrissal touch in mice and rats. On the macroscopic level vibrissal touch is an important sense for the subterranean rodents and has been honed by evolution to serve an array of distinct behaviors. Importantly, the vibrissae are moved actively to touch - requiring intricate sensorimotor interactions. Vibrissal touch, therefore, offers ample opportunities to relate different behavioral contexts to specific interactions of distant columns. On the microscopic level, the cortical modules in primary somatosensory cortex process touch inputs at highest magnification and discreteness - each whisker is represented by its own so-called barrel column. The cellular composition, intrinsic connectivity and functional aspects of the barrel column have been studied in great detail. Building on the versatility of genetic tools available in rodents, new, highly selective and flexible cellular and molecular tools to monitor and manipulate neuronal activity have been devised. Researchers have started to combine these with advanced and highly precise behavioral methods, on par with the precision known from monkey preparations. Therefore, the vibrissal touch model system is exquisitely positioned to combine the microscopic with the macroscopic view and promises to be instrumental in our understanding of neocortical function.
The Journal of Physiology · 344 Zitationen · DOI
Whole-cell voltage recordings were made in vivo from excitatory neurons (n = 23) in layer 4 of the barrel cortex in urethane-anaesthetised rats. Their receptive fields (RFs) for a brief whisker deflection were mapped, the position of the cell soma relative to barrel borders was determined for 15 cells and dendritic and axonal arbors were reconstructed for all cells. Three classes of neurons were identified: spiny stellate cells and pyramidal cells located in barrels and pyramidal cells located in septa. Dendritic and, with some exceptions, axonal arborisations of barrel cells were mostly restricted to the borders of a column with a cross sectional area of a barrel, defining a cytoarchitectonic barrel-column. Dendrites and axons of septum cells, in contrast, mostly extended across barrel borders. The subthreshold RFs measured by evoked postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) comprised a principal whisker (PW) and several surround whiskers (SuWs) indicating that deflection of a single whisker is represented in multiple barrels and septa. Barrel cells responded with larger depolarisation to stimulation of the PW (13.7 +/- 4.6 mV (mean +/- S.D.), n = 10) than septum cells (5.7 +/- 2.4 mV, n = 5), the gradient between peak responses to PW and SuW deflection was steeper and the latency of depolarisation onset was shorter (8 +/- 1.4 ms vs. 11 +/- 2 ms). In barrel cells the response onset and the peak to SuW deflection was delayed depending on the distance to the PW thus indicating that the spatial representation of a single whisker deflection in the barrel map is dynamic and varies on the scale of milliseconds to tens of milliseconds. Septum cells responded later and with comparable latencies to PW and SuW stimulation. Spontaneous (0.053 +/- 0.12 action potentials (APs) s(-1)) and evoked APs (0.14 +/- 0.29 APs per principal whisker (PW) stimulus) were sparse. We conclude that PSPs in ensembles of barrel cells represent dynamically the deflection of a single whisker with high temporal and spatial acuity, initially by the excitation in a single PW-barrel followed by multi-barrel excitation. This presumably reflects the divergence of thalamocortical projections to different barrels. Septum cell PSPs preferably represent multiple whisker deflections, but less dynamically and with less spatial acuity.
Biochemical Journal · 330 Zitationen · DOI
Human-embryo fibroblasts were synchronized by means of colchicine and cytochalasin, and the production of hyaluronate was determined by [3H]glucosamine incorporation and ion-exchange chromatography. Cells arrested by colchicine synthesized small amounts of hyaluronate, whereas cells blocked by cytochalasin were stimulated in hyaluronate production. When the colchicine block was released, there was an increased synthesis of hyaluronate, which appeared first in the cellular fraction and was then shed into the culture medium. After release of the cytochalasin block, the hyaluronate production declined to that found with unsynchronized cells. A comparable increase of hyaluronate synthase activity was observed during mitosis. When hyaluronate synthesis was blocked by periodate-oxidized UDP-glucuronic acid, the cells were arrested in mitosis before rounding of cells. These results suggest that hyaluronate synthesis is required for detachment and rounding of cells during mitosis.
Intracellular Determinants of Hippocampal CA1 Place and Silent Cell Activity in a Novel Environment
2011Neuron · 318 Zitationen · DOI
The Journal of Physiology · 297 Zitationen · DOI
Whole-cell voltage recordings were made in vivo from subsequently reconstructed pyramidal neurons (n = 30) in layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) of the barrel cortex of urethane-anaesthetised rats. Average resting membrane potentials were well below (15-40 mV) action potential (AP) initiation threshold. The average spontaneous AP activity (0.068 +/- 0.22 APs s-1) was low. Principal whisker (PW) deflections evoked postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) in almost all cells of a PW column but evoked AP activity (0.031 +/- 0.056 APs per PW stimulus 6 deg deflection) was low indicating 'sparse' coding by APs. Barrel-related cells (n = 16) have their soma located above a barrel and project their main axon through the barrel whereas septum-related cells (n = 8) are located above and project their main axon through the septum between barrels. Both classes of cell had broad subthreshold receptive fields (RFs) which comprised a PW and several (> 8) surround whiskers (SuW). Barrel-related cells had shorter PSP onset latencies (9.6 +/- 4.6 ms) and larger amplitude PW stimulus responses (9.1 +/- 4.5 mV) than septum-related cells (23.3 +/- 16.5 ms and 5.0 +/- 2.8 mV, respectively). The dendritic fields of barrel-related cells were restricted, in the horizontal plane, to the PW column width. Their axonal arbors projected horizontally into several SuW columns, preferentially those representing whiskers of the same row, suggesting that they are the major anatomical substrate for the broad subthreshold RFs. In barrel-related cells the response time course varied with whisker position and subthreshold RFs were highly dynamic, expanding in size from narrow single-whisker to broad multi-whisker RFs, elongated along rows within 10-150 ms following a deflection. The response time course in septum-related cells was much longer and almost independent of whisker position. Their broad subthreshold RF suggests that L2/3 cells integrate PSPs from several barrel columns. We conclude that the lemniscal (barrel-related) and paralemniscal (septum-related) afferent inputs remain anatomically and functionally segregated in L2/3.
Neuron · 259 Zitationen · DOI
Neuron · 216 Zitationen · DOI
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 195 Zitationen · DOI
Whereas visuomotor behaviors and visual object recognition have been studied in detail, we know relatively little about tactile object representations. We investigate a new model system for the tactile guidance of behavior, namely prey (cricket) capture by one of the smallest mammals, the Etruscan shrew, Suncus etruscus. Because of their high metabolic rate and nocturnal lifestyle, Etruscan shrews are forced to detect, overwhelm, and kill prey in large numbers in darkness. Crickets are exquisitely mechanosensitive, fast-moving prey, almost as big as the shrew itself. Shrews succeed in hunting by lateralized, precise, and fast attacks. Removal experiments demonstrate that both macrovibrissae and microvibrissae are required for prey capture, with the macrovibrissae being involved in attack targeting. Experiments with artificial prey replica show that tactile shape cues are both necessary and sufficient for evoking attacks. Prey representations are motion- and size-invariant. Shrews distinguish and memorize prey features. Corrective maneuvers and cricket shape manipulation experiments indicate that shrew behavior is guided by Gestalt-like prey descriptions. Thus, tactile object recognition in Etruscan shrews shares characteristics of human visual object recognition, but it proceeds faster and occurs in a 20,000-times-smaller brain.
The Journal of Comparative Neurology · 184 Zitationen · DOI
The relationship between motor maps and cytoarchitectonic subdivisions in rat frontal cortex is not well understood. We use cytoarchitectonic analysis of microstimulation sites and intracellular stimulation of identified cells to develop a cell-based partitioning scheme of rat vibrissa motor cortex and adjacent areas. The results suggest that rat primary motor cortex (M1) is composed of three cytoarchitectonic areas, the agranular medial field (AGm), the agranular lateral field (AG1), and the cingulate area 1 (Cg1), each of which represents movements of different body parts. Vibrissa motor cortex corresponds entirely and for the most part exclusively to AGm. In area AG1 body/head movements can be evoked. In posterior area Cg1 periocular/eye movements and in anterior area Cg1 nose movements can be evoked. In all of these areas stimulation thresholds are very low, and together they form a complete representation of the rat's body surface. A strong myelinization and an expanded layer 5 characterize area AGm. We suggest that both the strong myelinization and the expanded layer 5 of area AGm may represent cytoarchitectonic specializations related to control of high-speed whisking behavior.
The Journal of Physiology · 182 Zitationen · DOI
Layer 5 (L5) pyramidal neurones constitute a major sub- and intracortical output of the somatosensory cortex. This layer 5 is segregated into layers 5A and 5B which receive and distribute relatively independent afferent and efferent pathways. We performed in vivo whole-cell recordings from L5 neurones of the somatosensory (barrel) cortex of urethane-anaesthetized rats (aged 27-31 days). By delivering 6 deg single whisker deflections, whisker pad receptive fields were mapped for 16 L5A and 11 L5B neurones located below the layer 4 whisker-barrels. Average resting membrane potentials were -75.6 +/- 1.1 mV, and spontaneous action potential (AP) rates were 0.54 +/- 0.14 APs s(-1). Principal whisker (PW) evoked responses were similar in L5A and L5B neurones, with an average 5.0 +/- 0.6 mV postsynaptic potential (PSP) and 0.12 +/- 0.03 APs per stimulus. The layer 5A sub- and suprathreshold receptive fields (RFs) were more confined to the principle whisker than those of layer 5B. The basal dendritic arbors of layer 5A and 5B cells were located below both layer 4 barrels and septa, and the cell bodies were biased towards the barrel walls. Responses in both L5A and L5B developed slowly, with onset latencies of 10.1 +/- 0.5 ms and peak latencies of 33.9 +/- 3.3 ms. Contralateral multi-whisker stimulation evoked PSPs similar in amplitude to those of PW deflections; whereas, ipsilateral stimulation evoked smaller and longer latency PSPs. We conclude that in L5 a whisker deflection is represented in two ways: focally by L5A pyramids and more diffusely by L5B pyramids as a result of combining different inputs from lemniscal and paralemniscal pathways. The relevant output evoked by a whisker deflection could be the ensemble activity in the anatomically defined cortical modules associated with a single or a few barrel-columns.
Current Opinion in Neurobiology · 176 Zitationen · DOI
Science · 170 Zitationen · DOI
Little is known about how microcircuits are organized in layer 2 of the medial entorhinal cortex. We visualized principal cell microcircuits and determined cellular theta-rhythmicity in freely moving rats. Non-dentate-projecting, calbindin-positive pyramidal cells bundled dendrites together and formed patches arranged in a hexagonal grid aligned to layer 1 axons, parasubiculum, and cholinergic inputs. Calbindin-negative, dentate-gyrus-projecting stellate cells were distributed across layer 2 but avoided centers of calbindin-positive patches. Cholinergic drive sustained theta-rhythmicity, which was twofold stronger in pyramidal than in stellate neurons. Theta-rhythmicity was cell-type-specific but not distributed as expected from cell-intrinsic properties. Layer 2 divides into a weakly theta-locked stellate cell lattice and spatiotemporally highly organized pyramidal grid. It needs to be assessed how these two distinct principal cell networks contribute to grid cell activity.
Current Opinion in Neurobiology · 161 Zitationen · DOI
Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 154 Zitationen · DOI
Nature · 153 Zitationen · DOI
Neuron · 149 Zitationen · DOI
Journal of Neuroscience · 135 Zitationen · DOI
The mammalian motor cortex typically innervates motor neurons indirectly via oligosynaptic pathways. However, evolution of skilled digit movements in humans, apes, and some monkey species is associated with the emergence of abundant monosynaptic cortical projections onto spinal motor neurons innervating distal limb muscles. Rats perform skilled movements with their whiskers, and we examined the possibility that the rat vibrissa motor cortex (VMC) projects monosynaptically onto facial motor neurons controlling the whisker movements. First, single injections of lentiviruses to VMC sites identified by intracortical microstimulations were used to label a distinct subpopulation of VMC axons or presynaptic terminals by expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) or GFP-tagged synaptophysin, respectively. Four weeks after the injections, GFP and synaptophysin-GFP labeling of axons and putative presynaptic terminals was detected in the lateral portion of the facial nucleus (FN), in close proximity to motor neurons identified morphologically and by axonal back-labeling from the whisker follicles. The VMC projections were detected bilaterally, with threefold larger density of labeling in the contralateral FN. Next, multiple VMC injections were used to label a large portion of VMC axons, resulting in overall denser but still laterally restricted FN labeling. Ultrastructural analysis of the GFP-labeled VMC axons confirmed the existence of synaptic contacts onto dendrites and somata of FN motor neurons. These findings provide anatomical demonstration of monosynaptic VMC-to-FN pathway in the rat and show that lentivirus-based expression of GFP and GFP-tagged presynaptic proteins can be used as a high-resolution neuroanatomical tracing method.
The Journal of Physiology · 135 Zitationen · DOI
Whole-cell voltage recordings were made in vivo in the ventral posterior medial nucleus (VPM) of the thalamus in urethane-anaesthetised young (postnatal day 16-24) rats. Receptive fields (RFs) on the whisker pad were mapped for 31 neurones, and 10 cells were recovered for morphological reconstruction of their dendritic arbors. Most VPM neurones had antagonistic subthreshold RFs that could be divided into excitatory and inhibitory whiskers. VPM cells comprised different classes, the most frequently occurring being single-whisker excitation (SWE) and multi-whisker excitation (MWE) cells. In SWE cells (36 % of VPM neurones), only principal whisker (PW) deflection evoked an EPSP and was followed by a single action potential (AP) or remained subthreshold. The depolarisation was terminated by a large, delayed IPSP. A stimulus evoked on average 0.74 +/- 0.46 APs (mean +/- S.D.) with short latency (8.1 +/- 1.0 ms) and small temporal scatter (0.31 +/- 0.23 ms dispersion of 50 % of the first APs). In MWE cells (29 % of VPM neurones), deflection of several whiskers evoked EPSPs. PW responses were either subthreshold EPSPs or consisted of an EPSP followed by one or several APs (0.96 +/- 0.99 APs per stimulus). AP responses were often associated with putative low-threshold calcium-dependent regenerative potentials and were followed by a small delayed IPSP. AP responses had a longer latency (12.3 +/- 2.6 ms) and larger temporal scatter (2.5 +/- 1.6 ms) than responses of SWE cells. MWE cells had a lower input resistance than SWE cells. The elongation of dendritic arbors along the representation fields of rows and arcs in VPM barreloids was weakly correlated with the subthreshold RF elongation along whisker rows and arcs, respectively. Evoked EPSP-AP responses exhibited a sharper directional tuning than subthreshold EPSPs, which in turn exhibited a sharper directional tuning than IPSPs. In conclusion, we document two main classes of VPM neurones. SWE cells responded with a precisely timed single AP to the deflection of the PW. In contrast, MWE cell RFs were more broadly tuned and the temporally dispersed multiple AP responses of these cells represented the degree of collective deflection of the PW and several adjacent whiskers.
Kooperationen22
Bestätigte Forscher↔Partner-Paare aus HU-FIS — Gold-Standard-Positive für das Matching.
EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
university
EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
company
SFB 1315/2: Ein komparativer Forschungsansatz zur Konsolidierung des Verwandtschaftsgedächtnisses (TP A03)
university
EXC 2049: Comprehensive Approaches to Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders (NeuroCure)
other
EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
university
Fraunhofer-Institut für Rechnerarchitektur und Softwaretechnik
Bernstein Centre for Computational Neuroscience Berlin
other
EXC 2049: Comprehensive Approaches to Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders (NeuroCure)
university
Dynamik von elektrisch gekoppelten neuronalen Netzen
university
EXC 2049: Comprehensive Approaches to Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders (NeuroCure)
other
EXC 2049: Comprehensive Approaches to Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders (NeuroCure)
other
EXC 2049: Comprehensive Approaches to Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders (NeuroCure)
other
Cellular Neuroscience: School of Cognition
other
EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
university
EU: The Neuroscience of Tickling: Cerebellar Mechanisms and Sensory Prediction (NeuroTick)
university
EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
university
GRK 1589/2: Verarbeitung sensorischer Informationen in neuronalen Systemen
university
EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
university
The Self-Teaching Brain (BrainPlay)
university
EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
university
EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
university
EU: BIOmimetic Technology for Vibrissal ACtive Touch (BIOTACT)
research_institute
Bernstein Centre for Computational Neuroscience Berlin
other
Stammdaten
Identität, Organisation und Kontakt aus HU-FIS.
- Name
- Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht
- Titel
- Prof. Dr.
- Fakultät
- Lebenswissenschaftliche Fakultät
- Institut
- Institut für Biologie
- Arbeitsgruppe
- Tierphysiologie / Systemneurobiologie und Neural Computation
- Telefon
- +49 30 2093-98502
- HU-FIS-Profil
- Quelle ↗
- Zuletzt gescrapt
- 26.4.2026, 01:03:09