2. Behavioral Biology TALKS - Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft

Special Guest Lecture: Chair - Giovanni Galizia A 600 / 11:00
James Poulet (Berlin)
Cortical Processing during Behaviour
Author: James Poulet 1
Affiliation: 1 Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch.
A prominent reflection of different behavioural states in the mammalian central
nervous system are the distinct patterns of neocortical oscillations and synchrony.
Such “cortical states” are thought to be fundamental mechanisms of neuronal
computation underlying sensory perception, sensorimotor coordination and learning.
In this talk I will present data showing cortical state change in the primary
somatosensory cortex and thalamus in awake mice performing behaviour. The
membrane potential of nearby cortical neurons undergo slow large amplitude
fluctuations that are highly correlated during quiet wakefulness, but when mice start
to move their whisker, to sense their local tactile environment, cortical neurons
depolarise and undergo a change in state that reduces both the correlation between
the neurons and the amplitude of membrane potential fluctuations, resulting in a
desynchronised local field potential and electroencephalogram. The change in
cortical state is generated internally within the brain as it is not the result of sensory
feedback from the whisker pad and can be mimicked by thalamic optogenetic
stimulation.
Boattrip MS Konstanz: Harbour / 19:45
Award of the “Werner-Rathmayer-Preis” and Posterprizes
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