  Analysis of identified neurons in vitro and in vivo THESIS TOPIC PROPOSAL Institute: University of Szeged biology Doctoral School of Biology Thesis supervisor: Gábor Molnár co-supervisor: Gábor Tamás Location of studies (in Hungarian): University of Szeged, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Neuroscience, Szeged, Közép fasor 52. Abbreviation of location of studies: SZTE Description of the research topic: A single neuron in the rodent cerebral cortex is known to initiate movements and influence behaviour. However, the question is by what mechanisms a cell can control the Hebbian networks that are essential for such functions. Our experiments on human cortical connections have shown that human interneurons receive powerful stimulatory inputs that have not been observed in other species (Molnár et al., 2008). Thus, a single human pyramidal or axo-axonal cell can trigger Hebbian event chains that are an order of magnitude longer than those observed in experimental animals and operate on a high-frequency (200 Hz) oscillatory cycle of glutamate and GABAergic synapses during activity (Komlosi et al., 2012; Molnar et al, 2008). Using two-photon imaging combined with patch clamp methods and pharmacological activation models, we aim to determine a) which subsets of human pyramidal cells are involved in signal initiation and b) which types of interneurons are involved in the spatiotemporal patterning of Hebbian networks. Required language skills: English Further requirements: Experience in the field of electrophysiology, diligence, persistent punctuality Number of students who can be accepted: 1 Deadline for application: 2024-08-31 |