Neural circuit plasticity and function
Neurophysiology, Plasticity, Neural Circuits
Research aim
The brain performs its functions through neural circuits: collections of interconnected cells (i.e. different types of neurons, and glial cells). We aim to unravel these circuits, understand how experiences alter them, and decipher their function.
About us
Neural circuits are the substrates through which the brain performs all of its functions. Therefore, understanding a healthy brain requires an unraveling of:
i. The neural circuits within it.
ii. How salient experiences (e.g. life stress) alter the function of these circuits (i.e. plasticity).
iii. How the activity patterns of these circuits causally link to cognitive and emotional processes specifically, and to behavior at large.
Whereas these requirements are crucial for a healthy brain, they are even important to understand in the context of brain disease. Psychiatric and neurological disorders cause neural circuit dysfunction as a basis for behavioral symptoms. For any given brain disease it is therefore important to better understand these neural circuit dysfunctions, and their underlying mechanism. More insight in this regard may ultimately also provide insight into viable treatment strategies for these brain diseases.