Mathias Mahn: From optogenetic inhibition to value and valence coding
| When |
Mar 01, 2023
from 12:15 PM to 01:00 PM |
|---|---|
| Where | Bernstein Center, Hansastr. 9a, Lecture Hall. Hybrid Format via Zoom. Meeting ID and password will be sent with e-mail invitation. You can also contact Fiona Siegfried for Meeting ID and password. |
| Contact Name | Fiona Siegfried |
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Abstract
Our understanding of how the brain integrates sensory information, reads the bodily state, and generates adaptive behavior is fundamentally limited by our ability to characterize the contribution of information flow between defined brain areas to task performance. Ideally one would be able to disrupt the activity within a defined neuronal population, or the flow of information between specific brain areas. Optogenetics can provide a solution to this technological hurdle.
I will discuss the efficacy and limitations of optogenetic inhibition for the silencing of neuronal cell somata and the unique biophysical constraints of optogenetic inhibition at presynaptic terminals, with a focus on light-gated chloride channels, ion-pumps, and G protein-coupled receptors.
I will then present our recent efforts to gain a more detailed understanding of the representation of value and valence in the basolateral amygdala before sketching out my plan to investigate the basolateral amygdala to prefrontal cortex information flow during decision-making.