Department of Neurophysiology

At the Institute of Physiology, Department of Neurophysiology, we are interested in understanding the mechanisms underlying the in vivo function of neuronal networks during the development, adulthood and ageing as well as mechanisms underlying processing of sensory signals. In addition, we are interested in the interplay between the nervous and the immune systems of the brain in conditions of ageing and neurodegenerative diseases.

To enable our studies we have (co)developed several in vivo approaches allowing multicolor labeling of different cells types (i.e. neurons, microglia, astrocytes) with cell type-specific as well as activity (e.g. calcium indicators) markers. These approaches can be applied to study the in vivo function of the rodent brain at high temporal (milliseconds-to-seconds) and deliberate spatial resolution starting from large-scale (up to several mm) imaging down to single cell or even a subcellular (e.g. single synaptic bouton) resolution.