NEWS

We would like to invite you to our Symposium

Advanced Imaging Methods for Systems Neuroscience

Time: 10:00-13:00 (CET), Friday 21st October, 2022

Place: The Red Room, Trigon (Kapittelweg 29, Nijmegen)

Or on Zoom

Zoom link: https://radbouduniversity.zoom.us/j/88113138298?pwd=VWltby9ldUplR3pqWURmZE5BUFB2Zz09

Tentative Schedule:

10:00-10:10 Introduction

10:10-10:50 Thomas Knopfel – Mesoscopic-Level Voltage Imaging Approaches: Bridging Cellular-Level and Systems Physiology

10:50-11:00 Questions

11:00-11:20 Eric Lowet – Optical exploration of striatal membrane voltage dynamics

11:20-11:30 Questions

11:30-11:45 Break

11:45-12:05 Alexander Heimel – Using light to explore the role of the zona incerta in curiosity

12:05-12:15 Questions

12:15-12:35 Timo van Kelkoerle – Reliable and long-term multi-photon imaging in macaque monkey cortex

12:35-12:45 Questions

12:45-13:05 Misha Ahrens – Whole-brain light sheet imaging in zebrafish

Symposium Abtracts:

Mesoscopic-Level Voltage Imaging Approaches: Bridging Cellular-Level and Systems Physiology

Prof. Thomas Knopfel, Chair of Optogenetics and Circuit Neurosciences, Imperial College London

A central goal in neuroscience is to determine how the brain’s neuronal circuits generate perception, cognition and emotions and how these lead to appropriate behavioural actions. A methodological platform based on genetically encoded voltage indicators (GEVIs), which enables the monitoring of large-scale circuit dynamics, brought us closer to this ambitious goal. After setting the scene with a historical account of GEVI development leading to their current state of the art, I will summarize recent work where GEVI-based imaging was used to address criticality, complexity and information content of intrinsic (“spontaneous”) activities in the mouse cerebral cortex.

Optical exploration of striatal membrane voltage dynamics

Dr. Eric Lowet, Department of Bioengineering, Boston University

The role of striatal temporal dynamics in regulating movement and cognition is not well understood. Here, I will present my work on mouse striatal dynamics during voluntary movement using a novel optical voltage imaging technique. The voltage-dependent fluorescent protein (SomArchon) enables the recording of subthreshold potentials and spiking of identified single neurons. SomArchon was expressed in cholinergic interneurons and spiny projection neurons in the dorsal striatum. Striatal neurons showed large subthreshold 2-4Hz delta oscillations, particularly in cholinergic interneurons, which regulated spike timing and beta rhythms. Strikingly, cholinergic interneurons showed stepping-related activity coordinated at the delta frequency, suggesting that striatal activity is coordinated with the spinal pattern generators during movement. These results reveal an unexpected direct role of striatal dynamics in movement patterning.

Using light to explore the role of the zona incerta in curiosity

Dr. Alexander Heimel, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

The zona incerta is a central, primarily inhibitory, hub located between the thalamus and the hypothalamus. It has been implicated in feeding, hunting and modulation of fear behaviors. In this talk, I will show how we determined that the zona incerta is essential in exploration of novel objects and conspecifics. We did so by combining behavioral free choice experiments with optogenetic manipulation and fiber photometry in the zona incerta. Using these techniques, we found that, in particular, the tac1-positive neurons in the zona incerta are involved in transforming information from the prelimbic cortex into deep investigatory behaviour via the periaqueductal gray.

Reliable and long-term multi-photon imaging in macaque monkey cortex

Dr. Timo van Kerkoerle, PI at NeuroSpin (CEA Saclay, France)

"Applying long-term multi-photon imaging in macaque monkeys would provide the exciting opportunity to investigate the detailed neural mechanisms of high-level cognitive functions. Unfortunately, long-term 2-photon imaging in larger animals is compromised by the thickness of their dura mater, commonly requiring the removal of this tough and opaque layer of tissue that is protecting the brain, giving an invasive and unstable preparation. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a 3-photon microscope that allows imaging through the intact dura, down to ~0.8mm into the brain of macaque monkeys. We obtain relatively fast multi-plane imaging and a large FOV by combining high repetition rates, resonance-galvo scanning and an optotune lens. We have developed head-fixation implants and imaging chambers optimized for chronic 3-photon imaging, and viral vector injection techniques to obtain large injection sites in the cortex. We extensively compared 2 and 3-photon imaging through post-mortem dural tissue, and confirmed these results in the prefrontal cortex of anesthetized macaque monkeys."

Whole-brain light sheet imaging in zebrafish

Dr. Misha Ahrens, PI at HHMI Janelia Farm (USA)

Abstract TBA

Netherlands eScience Center fellowship 2022 awarded to Davide Spalla

We are happy to announce that our lab member Davide Spalla has been awarded Netherlands eScience Center fellowship 2022 (https://www.esciencecenter.nl/fellowship-programme/) for his project “Neural Data Science: an open-source programming and analysis course for system neuroscience”.
During this year-long project Davide, with the support of the lab and the eScience center, will develop a series of lectures on foundational analysis methods in system neuroscience, with a strong focus on programming and software development.
The course will be addressed to young neuroscientists that want to develop or deepen their quantitative skills and learn how to produce good quality research software.
The first series of lectures will be given in the next academic year at Radboud University.
All the course material will be open source and publicly available, re-usable and extendable.
If you are interested in contributing to the project or have any suggestions, please reach out at spalladavide.92@gmail.com.

The Dutch Brain Interfaces Initiative

Researchers from Radboud University are involved in various projects that receive a grant within the Gravitation programme of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Over the next 10 years, these consortia will receive tens of millions of euros for interdisciplinary research into brain disorders, quantum technology and more.

Projects within the Gravitation programme(verwijst naar een andere website) (or the 'Zwaartekracht' programme in Dutch) rank among the world’s best in their respective research fields or have the potential to do so. The grant will allow researchers to conduct top-level academic research and to cooperate in a multidisciplinary manner. One of the pillars of the programme is cooperation across disciplines and universities.

In order to understand how the brain works, we need to understand how each part, from neurons to brain regions, interacts with the rest of the brain and with the outside world. The aim of this research is to develop principles, equipment and methods to consider these interactions and thus gain a better understanding of brain disorders, as well as moods, emotions and compulsions.

Radboud University is the main applicant for “The Dutch Brain Interfaces Initiative”. The project is led by Francesco Battaglia(verwijst naar een andere website), Professor of Neuronal networks of Memory, at the Faculty of Science and the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. The researchers will receive a grant of 21.9 million euros for the next 10 years.

We are extremely excited and honored to lead this new initiative!

Symposium in honor of Prof. Dr. Bruce McNaughton

In occasion of Prof. McNaughton Radboud Excellence Chair stay in Nijmegen, we organize a symposium where we will cover recent advances on cortical dynamics.

Tuesday May 24th 13:30-16:30 – Grotiusgebouw room GR -1.070, Radboud University Nijmegen

The speakers will be

Freyja Olafsdottir (Donders Institute)
Martin Vinck (Donders Institute)
Francesco Battaglia (Donders Institute)

Keynote speakers
Clifford Kentros (NTNU, Trondheim, Norway)
Bruce McNaughton (University of California Irvine, University of Lethbridge)

You can follow (Hopefully, if things in the room work) the symposium also at this Zoom link

A Twitter walkthrough on our latest preprint by Matteo Guardamagna and Federico Stella

Hybrid Drive

• November 2021: FLAG-ERA HBP grant awarded to the VIPAttract project with Dr. Desdemona Fricker (Paris, coordinator), Dr. Michael Graupner (Paris), Dr. Yoshiyuki Kubota (Ozazaki), and Dr. Lucia Wittner (Budapest). Main investigator in our lab is Dr. Federico Stella.

• November 2021 : We are currently launching our New WEBSITE!

• September/October 2021: Given the curreny regulations we can all be back at the office and labs to work together.

Please follows us on Twitter at @battaglialab

JOBS AND INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Currently we do not have any open position, but if you are interested in joining us please fell free to write here. Requests for Bachelor and Master internship in the lab or computationally-oriented are always welcome.