Thesis supervisor: Balázs Hangya
Location of studies (in Hungarian): MTA Abbreviation of location of studies: MTA
Description of the research topic:
Acetylcholine and dopamine are neuromodulatory neurotransmitters that control the behaviour of diverse populations of neurons, influencing neural information processing at a variety of temporal scales. In particular, neuromodulatory systems have a fundamental role in normal cognitive functions. Conversely, disorders of the cholinergic and dopaminergic neurons underlie certain degenerative neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases; therefore, a more precise understanding of these systems might lead to significant steps towards better treatments of these disorders.
Different neuromodulatory systems participate in overlapping cognitive processes and often represent (‘code’) similar behaviourally relevant variables, hence their unique roles in cognitive functions such as learning, memory and attention are not well characterized. To address this, it is crucial to study them under the same experimental conditions. Moreover, to reveal potential redundancies in neuromodulatory codes, it is necessary to investigate these systems simultaneously.
First, it is necessary to design learning paradigms suitable for electrophysiological recordings to study the firing activity of neuromodulatory cells. Next, optogenetically identified cholinergic and dopaminergic neurons should be recorded from awake behaving mice in such paradigms. To achieve this, it is essential to precisely implant the electrodes into the appropriate brain areas. Therefore, it is important to design a protocol that can locate the implanted electrodes in vivo using CT and MRI imaging. The overarching goal of the project is to study the simultaneous activity of cholinergic and dopaminergic neurons during learning and explore the inter-relationships between the two systems using traditional linear and non-linear information theory based correlation measures.
Required language skills: English B2 Further requirements: idegeléttani módszerek alapszintű elméleti ismerete
idegrendszeri képalkotó eljárások alapszintű ismerete
Number of students who can be accepted: 3
Deadline for application: 2018-05-31
2024. IV. 17. ODT ülés Az ODT következő ülésére 2024. június 14-én, pénteken 10.00 órakor kerül sor a Semmelweis Egyetem Szenátusi termében (Bp. Üllői út 26. I. emelet).
Login
