BMI Seminar // Microcircuits in the basal nucleus of the amygdala
Event details
| Date | 05.04.2017 |
| Hour | 12:30 › 13:30 |
| Speaker | Norbert Hájos, Laboratory of Network Neurophysiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
The basal nucleus of the amygdala (BA), a cortical structure is one of the main output stations of the amygdala region. This area plays an essential role in several higher order cognitive functions, including fear memory processes, decision making or social interactions. In spite of a fundamental role of the BA in both normal and pathological operation, our knowledge of its microcircuit organization is surprisingly limited. This statement is particularly true for amygdalar GABAergic circuits, which are critically involved in controlling principal neuron functions, and thus, the amygdalar operation. We identified three interneuron types that provide the vast majority of GABAergic inputs onto the perisomatic region of amygdalar principal neurons. By using high resolution confocal microscopy, electron microscopy and in vitro electrophysiological methods combined with optogenetics, we uncovered the wiring principles between principal neurons and the perisomatic region-targeting interneurons as well as among these GABAergic cell types. As the local principal neurons distinctly activate perisomatic inhibitory neurons, our data suggest fundamentally different functions for these GABAergic cells in amygdalar network operations.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- EPFL SV BMI Hosts : C. Petersen