Research

A Focus on Networks
Brain circuits can be considered at many different levels. These levels span the interests of the MPI for Brain Research.
For example, the intracellular protein network present in synapses includes all essential features of circuits including connected elements, communication, regulation and feedback. In response to signals from other neurons in a circuit, synapses interpret their inputs and transform them into outputs. Some inputs modify the intracellular network by modifying the local ionic and protein environment, resulting in a change in the synaptic response.
Neural networks are another fundamental unit of brain function: the brain computes (transforms) inputs (external, via senses, or internal, such as thoughts, memories etc) into adaptive outputs (motor behaviors, percepts etc), according to some rules, or families of rules, that most often emerge from its components and their interactions; interestingly, those rules can change with time, experience, or context.
Our common goal is a mechanistic understanding of the components of these networks, of the structural and functional circuits which they form, of the computational rules which describe their operations, and ultimately, of their roles in driving perception and behavior. Our experimental focus is on all scales (in space and time) required to achieve this understanding. That is, some of our work focuses on networks of molecules in dendritic compartments, while other focuses on networks of interacting brain areas. This requires analyses at the molecular, cellular, multi-cellular, network and behavioral levels, with the full understanding that macroscopic phenomena (spatial patterns, dynamics) can be scale-dependent; thus, while essential, reductionist approaches are not always sufficient, emphasizing also the need for theory.
Interactive
Upcoming Lectures and Events
22 April 2021
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mpibr External Postdoctoral Seminar Concatenations by Chris Rodgers (Columbia University, New York)Title: Sensorimotor strategies and neuronal representations for shape recognition in mice [more] |
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27 April 2021
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Connecting Brains Lecture by Susana Lima (Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal)Title: Neural circuits controlling sexual behavior [more] |
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28 April 2021
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Neuroscience Lecture by Emily Osterweil (Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences University of Edinburgh)Title: The long and short of altered translation in Fragile X [more] |
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12 May 2021
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Neuroscience Online Lecture by Maria Robles (Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich)Title: t.b.a. [more] |
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18 May 2021
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Connecting Brains Lecture by Jee Hyun Kim (School of Medicine, IMPACT, the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia)Title: A cross-species approach to understand adolescent vulnerability to mental disorder... [more] |
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