The structure of Nijmegen-breakage syndrome protein 1

This project is now closed

Neuronal mechanisms of odour processing in awake behaving mice

Project supervisor: Andreas Schaefer (Neurophysiology)

Understanding the mechanisms how information is processed in the brain is one of the key challenges in neuroscience. While detailed investigations of single cell properties are routine in in vitro preparations and recordings and manipulations from identified neurons are well possible in vivo in anesthetized animals, analysis of neuronal activity in awake, behaving animals has largely been restricted to coarser information as obtained by extracellular recordings. Based on our previous work (Abraham et al., 2010; Fukunaga et al., 2012), this project will focus on analyzing single neuron responses and properties in awake, behaving animals. This will be done using whole-cell patch clamp as well as juxtacellular recordings in trained, head-fixed mice.

Starting point for this project is the observation that context and training state may significantly influence sensory responses in the olfactory bulb, the first processing stage in olfaction (Doucette et al., 2011; Kay & Laurent, 1999). To unravel the mechanistic basis, behavioural protocols will be established in headfixed mice and odour responses will be measured intracellularly from identified neurons in animals trained on different sets of odours and in different contexts. In a next step, this project aims to define the contribution of cortical feedback as well as local interneurons to odour representation and to the influence of behavioural state on odour representation. To this end, the successful candidate will perform stereotactic viral delivery into olfactory cortex and olfactory bulb in order to express optogenetic activation (ChR2) and silencing (ArchT) tools (Yizhar et al., 2011). Subsequently, the candidate will investigate how odour responses as well as behavioural performance in head-fixed mice are altered by ChR2-mediated activation or ArchT-mediated silencing of interneurons and feedback projections, thus dissecting the cellular mechanisms underlying context and behavioural state dependence of odour representation.

Training will be provided in numerous experimental techniques such as in vivo electrophysiology, stereotactic-guided viral delivery, behavioural conditioning experiments.

A strong quantitative background and experience in computer programming (Labview, Matlab or similar) will be highly advantageous.

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