People

Group Leader

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Albrecht Stroh

Head of Research Group “Molecular Imaging and Optogenetics” at the Institute of Pathophysiology,
Head of Research Group “Multimodal imaging of microcircuits in resilience models” at the German Resilience Center (DRZ),
Head of the “Mainz Animal Imaging Center”.

University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz
Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 19, 55128 Mainz, Germany

Tel.: +49 (0) 06131 39-21347
FAX: +49 (0) 6131-39-21386
E-Mail: albrecht.stroh@unimedizin-mainz.de
Curriculum Vitae

Post Docs

Isabelle Arnoux, PhD

Tel.: +49 (0) 6131-39-21351
FAX: +49 (0) 6131 39-21386
E-Mail: isabelle.arnoux@unimedizin-mainz.de

Education

I received my PhD in Neuroscience in 2014 from University of Paris Descartes (France) under the mentorship of Dr Audinat. My thesis was focused on the characterization and the roles of microglia in the developing mouse somatosensory cortex.

Research Interests

My present research is to determine whether the functionality of the neuronal network is already impaired prior to Huntington’s disease (HD) onset. Therefore, I assess cortical network activity in a mouse model of HD by using in vivo two-photon microscopy upon multi-bolus loading with calcium indicators. Recently, my work indicates that neuronal activity patterns are dysregulated prior to disease onset, and pharmacological treatment restores a normal network activity. However, cellular mechanisms responsible of the modification of neuronal activity are still unknown and I aim at identifying the molecular underpinnings by using specific molecular sensors in targeted cells.

This study intent to elucidate fundamental aspects of the pathology of HD and to identify mechanisms of disease progression by applying newly developed methodology.

Additionally, I am also participating in the all-optical physiology project conducted in the lab (see Ting Fu profile). My objective is to characterize the properties of different opsins by performing in vivo cell-attached recordings (wavelength, laser power and pixel dwell time). These results will provide optimum parameters for their stimulation and they can be applied in simultaneous calcium imaging experiments.

Felipe Aedo Jury, PhD

Tel.: +49 (0) 6131-39-xxx
FAX: +49 (0) 6131-39-xxx
E-Mail: xxx@unimedizin-mainz.de

Education

-2003: Bachelor in Biology – Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

-2009: PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience – Université Lille2, France.

Scientific Interests

The brain is constantly acquiring new information from the environment. This information is often integrated, stored and used to modulated further behavior. I am interested in how information is acquired by the brain and modulated under different conditions in order to govern future behavior. Particularly, my research topics are related in how different brain states modulate communication across distant brain regions in health and disease. To this aim, I use opto-fMRI as experimental tools. These techniques allows to record/stimulate local population neural activity at the same time than the general brain state can be monitored through fMRI, leading to a better understanding in how changes in local neuronal population can affect distant areas of the brain.

Current Projects

1. Causal probing of slow oscillations in rodent models of Alzheimer´s disease: combining optogenetics with multimodal opto-acousto-magnetic imaging.

2. Making extinction last: role of spontaneous activity in a mesoprefrontal circuitry in long-term extinction memory consolidation.

Dirk Cleppien, PhD

Tel.: +49 (0) 6131-39-XXX
FAX: +49 (0) 6131-39-21386
E-Mail: xxx@unimedizin-mainz.de

Education

I received my Ph.D. in physics at the University of Mainz.

Scientific Interests

For brain research magnetic resonance tomography is one of the promising techniques investigating the influence of a cellular network to macroscale. For this, multimodal experimental setups have to be conducted. My research focus is to combine methods of magnetic resonance with other promising techniques like laser spectroscopy creating new insights into the living brain.

Ting Fu, PhD

Tel.: +49 (0) 6131-39-21351
FAX: +49 (0) 6131-39-21386
E-Mail: ting.fu@unimedizin-mainz.de

Research interests (Ting Fu)

Coming soon.

PhD Students

Consuelo Fois, PhD Student

Tel.: +49 (0) 6131-39-21351
FAX: +49 (0) 6131-39-21386
E-Mail: consuelo.fois@unimedizin-mainz.de

Research interests

In contrast to all other CNS areas, dentate gyrus (DG) and olfactory bulb (OB) retain the capability to give rise to new neurons which are incorporated in the existing circuit. The precise function of adult-generated neurons is not fully known. Newborn neurons in olfactory bulb are mainly inhibitory interneurons called periglomerular cells.

Combining 2-photon microscopy, optogenetics and virus targeting we want to study the specific impact of newborn neurons on the functional level:

Pierre-Hugues Prouvot, PhD Student

Tel.: +49 (0) 6131-39-21351
FAX: +49 (0) 6131-39-21386
E-Mail: Pierre-Hugues.Prouvot@unimedizin-mainz.de

Education
My background is mainly in cellular biology and electrophysiology and it is this background that guides me in my approach to the problems I want to tackle.

Research Interests

I am interested in inhibitory neurons in the cortex and more specifically in Parvalbumin interneurons. Starting my studies in the cerebellum during my masters degree I moved to the barrel cortex for my PhD. The advantage of this part of the somatosensory cortex lies in its strong somatotopy allowing us to recording and manipulation from specific whisker related columns. In short we optically record from all kind of neurons expressing GCamp6f using mostly surface camera recordings but also two photon microscopy all while inhibiting PV neurons previously transfected with ArchT.

My project while starting the same methodological tools as the rest of the lab, namely acute two-photon calcium imaging and optogenetics in vivo, moved to a chronical approach in the past year. Being a collaborative project with Jenq-Wei Yang from the Luhmann lab who does multi electrode array recordings in vivo we were able to direct our hypothesis thanks to his data. Thus our approach should allow us to study with greater spatial specificity the lateral inhibition mediated by these PV interneurons.

Miriam Schwalm, PhD Student

Tel.: +49 (0) 6131-39-21351
FAX: +49 (0) 6131-39-21386
E-Mail: miriam.schwalm@unimedizin-mainz.de

Education
I studied psychology at the University of Frankfurt and conducted my diploma thesis at the Max Planck Institute of Brain Research in the department of Neurophysiology, studying basic visual perception in humans. Later on I became interested in circuit neurophysiology employing rodent models.

Research Interests

Neuroscientists are faced with ever-changing patterns of activity as the state of the brain constantly varies on slow and rapid timescales. Those alternating states of neuronal excitability are associated with prominent changes in global brain activity, between sleep and wakefulness or from inattentive to vigilant states. Detailed observation of state fluctuations can significantly account for neural response variability, and allow for a more accurate exploration of the mechanisms of sensory coding.

We investigate the effect of different anesthesia-induced brain states on spontaneous and sensory evoked population activity by using optic-fiber based calcium recordings alongside BOLD fMRI measurements and by employing simultaneous multi-fiber recordings in different brain areas of anesthetized versus awake animals.

Collaborations

Institute for Clinical Radiology, Translational Research Imaging Center, University of Münster, Germany; Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Department of Biology, University of Washington, USA; Laboratorio de Neurosistemas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago.

Hendrik Backhaus, PhD

Tel.: +49 (0) 6131-39-xxx
FAX: +49 (0) 6131-39-xxx
E-Mail: xxx@unimedizin-mainz.de

Research interests

My main research interest is to determine the impact of distinct cortical processing to individual behavior by combining optical/optogenetic approaches, mainly two-photon and high-speed calcium imaging, with virtual reality systems.

With a background in applied physics I especially focus on the development of new technological methods to achieve promising approaches to unravel the different underlying processes in the brain.

Support Staff

Michaela Moisch, MTA

E-Mail: michaela.moisch@unimedizin-mainz.de

People

Group Leader

Post Docs

PhD Students

Support Staff

Alumni