Mission

Events

Under a grant from the German Research Foundation, the International Research Training Group (IRTG) is a consortium of faculty and students from Technical University Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and Georgetown University.

Neuroscience emerges as the discipline of the 21st century for several reasons: The human brain is seen as the last big frontier of the scientific endeavor to understand nature and ourselves. At the same time, new technologies enable us to explore the brain with ever increasing precision. Neuroscience is attracting students and young researchers with various backgrounds. Physicians and medical scientists are joined by engineers and physicists, chemists and molecular biologists to attack this fascinating problem from various angles. A common approach taken by most members of either group is to visualize neural activity with optical means ("neuroimaging").

The primary aim of the members of the Munich group is the elucidation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying brain function 'in vivo'. For this purpose, several of the group members utilize high-resolution imaging techniques (multi-photon and optic fiber based imaging) and electrophysiological methods that they employ for the analyses of animal model systems, mostly wild- type and mutant mice. Basic mechanisms of synaptic transmission and intracellular signaling are investigated with an array of techniques, involving patch-clamp recordings, rapid confocal and two-photon imaging, local release of caged compounds, as well as with voltage-sensitive dye recordings from neural networks.

Whereas the strengths of the Munich groups lie at the microscopic level, the Georgetown group concentrates mostly on the systems level using high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and optical imaging as their main tools. Another unique property of this program is that many of its members in either group concentrate on the auditory system. A third aspect of the common yet complementary nature of the partnership is its shared interest in synaptic plasticity, which is tested in various model systems and has been a long-standing theme with researchers of both groups. Clinical investigations of neural plasticity as in, for instance, dyslexia, autism, and Alzheimer's disease, are performed in both groups with neuroimaging techniques and constitute another binding feature with particular relevance for graduate education. Exchange visits of graduate students and teaching staff strengthens collaborations for the benefit of both groups and ensures an excellent education of the students at an international level.

Nov. 20, 2008

"Brain Signaling: From Neurons to Circuits," an IRTG Symposium