The goal of our laboratory is to understand the function of the cortical microcircuit. The cortex constitutes the larger part of the brain in mammals. In humans it is the primary site of mental functions like perception, memory, control of voluntary movements, imagination, language and music. We use brain slices to study the cortical circuitry at the cellular and multicellular level. We also use biolistics transfection, electron microscopy and numerical simulations and modeling.
Spines are an essential element in cortical circuits and are still poorly understood.
Two-photon microscopy has enabled functional studies of dendritic spines and has shown that they compartmentalize calcium because of their morphological features and local calcium influx and efflux mechanisms. Spines have recently been shown to exhibit rapid morphological plasticity. This has raised the possibility that the function of the spine, or the synapse, is equally dynamic. It is still unknown if adult cortical neurons respond individually, or if there are multicellular units of activation which may represent a functional state of the circuit, such as an attractor. Optical imaging of populations of cells may make it possible to visualize the circuit dynamics and explore if canonical microcircuits exist.