News

Symposium - Brain and Mind

We present new work from our lab, where we explore the physiological properties of the coupling between microstimulation and internally ongoing brain activity in genetically modified mouse models using wide-field imaging of fluorescent voltage indicators.

Link to conference webpage

Program Symposium PDF

Public program

Host: David Rotermund & Udo Ernst, Universität Bremen

Colloquium about seizures -

Ictal heterogeneity in the awake thalamocortical system

We welcome our guest Magor Lorincz, University of Szeged, Hungary, presenting his work in the framework of the colloquium series of the International Graduate School of Neuroscience. For abstract and further information see IGSN.

Our student Ruxandra Barzan sucessfully defended her doctoral thesis - congratulations!

Modulation of visual processing and cortical state by the serotonergic system and its control through in vivo optogenetics

The PhD Committee awarded her work and its oral presentation with the grade "summa cum laude"

Ruxandra received her PhD in the framework of the programme of the RUB International Graduate School of Neuroscience

Dirk Jancke gives a talk about "Memory traces - Creating representations of immediate future and past events in primary visual cortex" at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience

The Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience was established within the Faculty of Psychology in 2002. It now comprises the Departments of Biopsychology, Neuropsychology and Cognitive Psychology as well as the research group Avian Neuroscience and the Department of Computational Neuroscience at the Institute of Neuroinformatics.

Host: Nikolai Axmacher

Dirk Jancke talkes about "How far can we get with one photon? Wide-field optical imaging of TMS and serotonergic effects on whole-brain dynamic" at the Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Marseille.

The Institute objectives are to carry out world class research in fundamental neurosciences, from cellular to cognitive levels, and to fill the gap between fundamental and clinical approaches. Integrative neuroscience, by bridging levels of organization of the nervous system within a functional approach, plays an essential role in understanding the neural underpinnings of our behavior and of their dysfunctions in neurological and psychiatric diseases.

Host: Fréderic Chavane

Beyond brain activity -

Isolating ongoing computations in vivo

We are happy to welcome our guest David Eriksson for his above talk (see Abstract)

in the framework of our INI seminar series

Our Lab participates in a newly founded Research Training Group (RTG)

Today the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) published their decisions regarding establisment and continuation of "Graduierten-Kollegs". We are happy to be part of the newly funded RTG called "MoNN_&Di" (Monoaminergic Neuronal Networks & Disease).

The goal of MoNN_&Di is to create a focused 5 year doctoral training programme that enables scrutiny of how monoaminergic G Protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) modulate neuronal circuits and shape behavioral responses.

For more info see News on Ruhr University Bochum webpage (in German) and DFG press release.

For application form and projects see MoNN_&Di, deadline 30. April 2023

We are glad to welcome Charlie Sexton for a lab visit

Charlie Sexton is a PhD student in the lab of Hinze Hogendoorn (Timing in Brain and Behaviour Laboratory, The University of Melbourne).

He will give a talk entitled "Spike-timing dependent plasticity among multiple layers of motion-sensitive neurons: a feedforward mechanism for motion extrapolation" in the framework of our INI seminar series

Our group extends imaging portfolio

With a budget of approximately 700.000 € our group will be equipped with a state-of-the-art 2-photon imaging setup. This supplements our wide-field imaging approaches with high-resolution in vivo imaging of single cells. The additional grant support is received in the framework of the EU-funded ERA-Net NEURON project „I-see - Improving intracortical visual prostheses“, where our group contributes with cortical microstimulation studies.

For further info see previous Press release Uni-Bremen / RUB Pressemitteilung / ERA-NET NEURON Call and Projects

First in-person FENS Conference after the pandemic

Our PhD student Ruxandra Barzan presents her studies with a poster contribution entitled: Modulation of the cortical state by serotonergic (5-HT) receptors: a study combining optogenetic tools and multi-channel electrode recordings in mouse visual cortex.

see FENS Forum Webpage for further info about the conference

Primary visual cortex and beyond

Dirk Jancke talks at Bremen University

Link to Flyer

Our former Erasmus student Beyza Bozkurt awarded with DAAD fellowship

With this grant at hand she will join the PhD programme of the RUB International Graduate School of Neuroscience

We are proud of you!

Our article in IGSN report 2022

About serotonergic effects on brain function

Download PDF

Welcome to our new PhD student

Fatma Karama

Fatma did her Master at the Faculty of Biology at RWTH Aachen, Germany, and joins our EU-project "I-See" about developing new approaches of cortical visual prosthesis. Here we see her during our Zoom kick-off meeting of the consortium.

See RUB Pressemitteilung / Press release Uni-Bremen

RUB-China Scholarship Council (CSC)

Our lab participates in a new call offered by the RUB to attract students from China. This is also to strengthen existing education and research cooperation with Chinese universities and research institutions.

The China Scholarship Council (CSC) offers scholarships to highly qualified Chinese candidates who wish to study and/or carry out research at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.

Research Profile Neuroscience

If you are curious as to how the brain builds memories, or modifies and forgets them; if you would like to know how the brain changes during aging, dementia, psychosis or in disease states related to immune, genetic or metabolic disorders, then RUB is the perfect place for you to conduct your PhD project.

Projects that we offer in this framework:

(1) Developing intracortical visual prostheses

(2) Manipulating brain dynamics through serotonin

See for more info

Brain Day - SFB 874

Der BRAIN DAY geht in eine neue Runde…

In diesem Jahr wird es den BRAIN DAY erstmals rein virtuell als Zoom-Konferenz geben. Das Organisationsteam des SFB 874 reagiert damit auf die Corona-bedingte Absage im vergangenen Jahr. Als virtuelles Format bietet die Neuauflage 2021 größtmögliche Sicherheit für die Gesundheit und Planung aller Besucherinnen und Besucher. Die Teilnahme am BRAIN DAY ist wie immer kostenlos, um Anmeldung per Email wird gebeten unter: sfb874-pr@rub.de.

Im Programm u.a.

Bernstein Conference 2021

Due to the ongoing pandemic the Bernstein Conference will be held online

Each year the Bernstein Network invites the international computational neuroscience community to the annual Bernstein Conference for intensive scientific exchange. It has established itself as one of the most renown conferences worldwide in this field, attracting students, postdocs and PIs from around the world to meet and discuss new scientific discoveries.

Our PhD student Ruxandra Barzan presents her work as a Poster, Wednesday, Sep 22, 14:15 CEST

We are glad to welcome our Erasmus student

Beyza Bozkurt

Beyza studies at the Faculty of Life Sciences, Abdullah University, Kayseri, Turkey and joins our group in the framework of an Erasmus internship for half a year.

Virtual Meeting

The poster shows serotonin-producing neurons in the brainstem. Figure from our recent study published in Elife (http://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.53552).

Interview about our new visual prosthesis project

(in German)

Fall of a Dogma in Visual Neuroscience

Darks and Lights

The ‘Yin–Yang’ of Vision Depends on Luminance

In a Trends of Neurosciences Spotlight we highlight a recent study by Rahimi-Nasrabadi et al. which shows that our ability to perceive image contrast changes throughout the day.

Our student Zohre Azimi received PhD - Congratulations!

In the framework of the programme of the RUB International Graduate School of Neuroscience Zohre successfully defended her thesis entitled:

The effect of serotonergic modulation on visual processing

The Committee evaluated her work and its oral presentation with the grade "summa cum laude"

New Grant Support

We announce funding of our new project in the framework of the ERA-Net Neuron Scheme, supported by the European Commission (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation “Horizon 2020”).

“I-See” - Improving intracortical visual prostheses

The project brings together scientists from Germany, Switzerland, and Canada, with expertise in computational and theoretical neuroscience and complementary experimental methods. The project is funded for 3 years with 900.000 €.

Link zur RUB Pressemitteilung / Press release Uni-Bremen

Public Video on Youtube (in German)

For blind patients who cannot profit from a retinal implant, intracortical visual prostheses offer great promise. However, at the time, intracortical prostheses have had limited success, mainly because they require strong stimulation currents, which generate non-specific percepts, and which may also bear the risk of tissue damage. We address these limitations by targeting complex response properties of neural populations in areas beyond primary visual cortex to generate more specific percepts and link electrical stimulation patterns in a closed-loop setup. Together these approaches will provide further insight into brain dynamics, while exploring options for its external stimulation and the potential of interfaces to target perceptual content.

ERA-NET NEURON Call and Funded Projects

Bio(s) in Congress

Our student Alexander Novosad presents his Master Thesis - in Corona times online!

Titel: "Wie wirkt Serotonin im Cortex?"

Program on facebook

Our article in PLoS ONE

Warum Sehen ein Entscheidungsprozess ist.

Perception of the difference between past and present stimulus: A rare orientation illusion may indicate incidental access to prediction error-like signals. PLoS ONE 15(5): e0232349.

Link to Press release, Pressemitteilung (english, deutsch)

Link to online publication

Our article in eLife

In cooperation with the Herlitze Lab at the Ruhr University, our students Zohre Azimi and Ruxandra Barzan show how Serotonin balances internal brain activity and external visual input by combining state-of-the-art optogenetics, wide-field optical imaging, electrophysiology and pharmacological manipulations in vivo.

Link to online publication

Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Chicago, 19.-23. October, 2019

Our student Zohre Azimi participated with a poster of her study via the "Science Knows No Borders" program.

Unfortunately, she did not get a Visa in time to present her work personally. The foto shows her poster that was printed at the conference site and tagged with a hint to the SFN "Science Knows No Borders" program.

BRAIN DAY 2019

Under the motto "From Fundamental Research to Therapy", the ninth BRAIN DAY will take place on the 25^th September 2019. The programme can be found here.

New "THINK" building

The Joint Science Conference (GWK) approved funding for a new research facility at the Ruhr University Bochum. THINK, Center for Theoretical and Integrative Neuroscience and Cognitive Science. THINK will facilitate a novel integrative and interdisciplinary approach to understanding cognition and the underlying neural mechanisms. Dirk Jancke participated as principal investigator in the grant application. The initiative is coordinated by Onur Güntürkün (speaker) and Sen Cheng (deputy speaker). For oficial press release from the Ruhr University Bochum see (in German only).

Concluding Colloquium - DFG Priority Program SPP1656

How tools and models resolve the neuronal networks in the mammalian brain: six years of collaborative research

Program

Our lab organizes an IGSN Symposium entiteld "Psychophysics in humans and optogenetics in mice"

Guest speakers:

Thomas Knöpfel and Chenchen Song from Imperial College, London (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/t.knopfel)

Michael Herzog, EPFL SV, Brain and Mind Institute, Lausanne (https://lpsy.epfl.ch/people/herzog/)

Titles of talks tba - for futher info see International Graduate School of Neuroscience (IGSN)

Dirk Jancke gives a "Global Excellence Lecture" at the Hvidovre Hospital - Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance (DRCMR)

The DRCMR is one of the leading research centres in Europe within the field of biomedical MRI. A highly profiled international research team translates the latest advances in MRI to examine the brain's function, metabolism and structure.

Host: Hartwig R. Siebner, Axel Thielscher

Our PhD Student Zohre Azimi participates in the G-Node Advanced Neural Data Analysis (ANDA) Course, Jülich-Barmen, Germany.

The course is addressed to excellent master and PhD students and young researchers who are interested in learning advanced techniques in data analytics and in getting hands-on experience in the analysis of electrophysiological data. Internationally renowned researchers will give lectures on statistical data analysis and data mining methods with accompanying exercises.

Bernstein Netzwerk Computational Neuroscience

Dirk Jancke held a Plenary Lecture at the 3rd International Brain Stimulation Conference, 24.-27. February 2019, Vancoucer, Canada

Brain stimulation methods, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), offer new approaches to therapeutics for brain disorders. Jancke's group uses an innovative imaging method with voltage-sensitive dye to track at submilimeter range and high temporal resolution, TMS-induced plastic functional changes across the brain.

The conference program included 30 distinct 2-hour symposia, along with 12 plenary lectures, 3 poster sessions, and 4 Meet the Expert workshops.

Dirk Jancke presents work from the lab at the Satellite Workshop entitled “Sensory neurons: Predictive coding or coding for predictions?"

Bernstein Conference - Satellite Workshops

Our PhD students Zohre Azimi and Ruxandra Barzan present their results at the FENS Meeting in Berlin.
https://forum2018.fens.org/

Past, future, present: All-in V1

Satellite FENS Meeting - ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function. Organized by Michael Ibbotson and Ulf Eysel. Berlin

Dirk Jancke presents recent work from the lab at FENS Satellite Symposium entitled “Receptive fields: analysis, models and applications.

Abstracts

Co-organized by the Australian Brain Function Centre of Excellence and Ruhr-University Bochum

FENS Satellite Symposium Homepage

INI Seminar: Dirk Jancke talks about current developments in optical imaging.

https://www.ini.rub.de/events/#archive

We are glad to welcome Matthew Chalk presenting his recent findings in our SFB 874 Colloquium.

https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/sfb874/downloads/Symposium%202018/sfb-colloquium-chalk-may-2018.pdf

Viktor Studenyak joins our lab for his Bachelor Thesis

V1 Population Dynamics and Plasticity.

Host: Thomas Knöpfel, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK.

Shaping activity patterns in V1: TMS-induced plasticity and context-dependent dynamics.

Host: Michael Herzog, Carl Petersen, Brain Mind Institute (BMI), Lausanne, Switzerland.

Context-dependent changes of V1 population dynamics.

Host: John-Dylan Haynes, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Charité, Berlin.

Voltage-sensitive Dye Imaging of Brain Dynamics. Research Department Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum.

Gonda Brain Research Colloquium, Dirk Jancke reports work of the German-Israeli Project "Decoding visual content and perception from neuronal population activity in visual cortex: VSDI, fMRI and computational modelling"

at Gonda Multidisciplinary Research Center Bar-Ilan University, Israel

Our lab organizes an IGSN Symposium entiteld "Decoding Visual Content and Perception from Neuronal Population Activity in Visual Cortex: VSDI, fMRI and Computational Modelling"

Guest speakers:

Hamutal Slovin
Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

John-Dylan Haynes
Charité – Universitätsmedizin, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin

Shimon Ullman
Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Population dynamics across the visual brain imaged with voltage-sensitive dye.

Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, UK.

VSD imaging as a tool to study functional activity at mesoscopic population levels.

Host: Frederic Chavane, C.N.R.S. Marseille, France.

Voltage-sensitive dye imaging of the visual brain: Capturing neuronal activity dynamics at the population level.

Symposium Perspectives of Molecular Imaging in Systems Neuroscience, MPI für Biologische Kybernetik, Tübingen.

Spatio-temporal dynamics of brain activity captured with voltage-sensitive dye imaging. Symposium Systems Neurobiology, University of Göttingen, 28-29. September, 2009.

Voltage-sensitive dye imaging as a tool to capture large-scale activation dynamics across the brain.

Host: Gustavo Deco, University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.

Dynamic computation in early visual cortex captured by VSD imaging and parallel electrophysiology. International Workshop - Aspects of adaptive dynamics - Hanse Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst.

From Luminance changes to Natural Scenes: Voltage-sensitive Dye Imaging in Primary Visual Brain Areas. German-USA Collaborative Symposium on Computational Neuroscience, Munich.

Population dynamics induced by local motion visualized with voltage-sensitive dye imaging in primary visual cortex.

Host: Thomas Wennekers, Centre for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, University of Plymouth, UK.

Kortikale Aktivitätswellen in primären visuellen Arealen optisch registriert mittels fluoreszenter spannungsabhängiger Farbstoffe. Otto Witte, Interdisziplinären Zentrums für Klinische Forschung (IZKF) Jena Klinikum der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena.

Cortical Activity Streaks evoked by Fast Moving Stimuli form to Patterns that Map Orientation of Motion Trajectories - Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging across Cat Primary Visual Cortex. Soc Neurosci Abstr 37.

San Diego, CA, USA

Population dynamics in cat early visual cortex evoked by local motion.

Symposium 22: Real-time voltage-sensitive dye imaging of cortical network activities across sensory modalities.

Shaping visual space from subthreshold activity in primary visual cortex: Combined voltage-sensitive dye imaging and electrophysiology in cat area 18.

Host: Fred Wolf, Max-Planck Institut für Strömungsforschung, Bernstein Center Computational Neuroscience, Göttingen.

Cortical activity visualized by voltage-sensitive dye imaging: Dynamics of subthreshold and suprathreshold activity patterns across primary visual cortex. Center for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics (CNNR) – University of Sussex, England.

Shaping visual space from propagating subthreshold activity in early visual cortex - Voltage-sensitive dye imaging of neural network dynamics in real time.

In: Symposium on Dynamical motion processing: new insights into the neuronal machinery, Uwe Ilg & Guillaume Masson.

5th Forum of European Neuroscience, FENS, Vienna, Austria.

Entscheidend is' im Oberstübchen - Fußball WM 2006

Dirk Jancke erklärt in einem launigen Interview, was aus Sicht der Neurowissenschaften im Kopf eines Fußballspielers passiert

Shifting of position in primary visual cortex: Studying local stimuli dynamics using voltage-sensitive dyes. Andreas Engel, Inst. of Neurophysiology, Universitätskliniken Eppendorf (UKE) - Hamburg.

Studying positional effects in cat primary visual cortex using voltage-sensitive dyes. Ray Dolan, Hakwan Lau, Wellcome Trust Functional Imaging Laborator, Institute of Neurology, University College London (UCL), England.

Visualizing the Invisible: The functinal role of subthreshold cortical spread for the processing of local objects. Voltage-sensitive dye imaging in cat primary visual cortex. Henning Scheich, Leibnitz Institute of Neurobiology – Center for Learning and Memory Research, Magdeburg.

Visualizing the invisible – Voltage-sensitive dye imaging of shaping suprathreshold activity from emerging cortical spread in early visual cortex. Satellite Symposium, ASSC9 Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA. (program)

Imaging the influence of subthreshold activity on the representation of stimulus location in cat visual cortex. Uwe Ilg, University Hospital, Clinic for Neurology, Dept. Cognitive Neurology, Tübingen.

Our lab organizes an IGSN Symposium entiteld "Modeling Cortical Information Processing"

Guest speakers:

Misha Tsodyks
Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

Wolfram Erlhagen
Departameno de Matemática para a Ciencia e Tecnologla (DMCT)), Universidade do Minho, Guimares, Portugal

Thomas Wennekers
Computational Neuroscience, Univetsity of Plymouth, UK

Our lab organizes an IGSN Symposium entiteld "The Brain in Action: Optical Imaging of Vision and Touch"

Speakers:

Dirk Jancke
Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

Thomas Hahn
Department of Cell Physiology, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, Germany

Hubert Dinse
Theoretical Biology, Institut für Neuroinformatik, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

Imaging Cortical Motion Trajectories in Early Visual Areas of the Cat. Bert Sakmann, Hartwig Spors, Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, Heidelberg.

Spatio-temporal integration of propagating subthreshold activity – Voltage-sensitive dye imaging in cat visual cortex. 7. Tübingen Perception Conference, 30. Jan – 1. February, 2004.