European Neuroscience Campus Network
PhD Research studentship (4 years)
Start date October 2011
Activity Contrast Imaging in dendritic networks in the brain
Neurons operate within highly ordered structural networks in the brain using precisely-timed patterns of activity. These activity patterns are mediated by synapses made across the dendrites of each neuron. Synaptic activity is integrated in the dendrites and if strong enough, induces a neuron to fire action potentials and activate its neuronal neighbours in the network. The last two decades of imaging technology have seen rapid progress to visualise the neuronal activity either at high resolution on a single dendrite or at lower resolution across an intact network of hundreds of neurons in the brain. Relating the function of a neuronal network and mapping it to the synaptic activity in the individual dendrites is a challenging task. However, it is essential to understand the integration of synaptic activity in an intact circuit in the brain during both normal and impaired information processing.
“Activity correlation imaging” is a novel method developed in the lab of Prof. Schild in order to image the activities of entire neuronal populations while simultaneously visualising activity in their dendritic structures. This PhD studentship will focus on further development of these novel computational algorithms with fast confocal linescanning as well as multi-photon imaging. Applications will be both in vivo and in vitro, and in known mammalian disorders of dendrite structure and function (labs of Dr Meredith and Prof Mansvelder, CNCR).
The project is funded by the European Neuroscience Campus Network and will be based at the University of Göttingen with exchange visits to the Integrative Neurophysiology Department, CNCR at the VU University, Amsterdam.
For further information about the research groups and an overview of the departmental research environments, see www.ukmn.gwdg.de and www.cncr.vu.nl. To apply for the position or for further information, contact Prof Detlev Schild dschild@gwdg.de.
