Michael Hausser

Our group is interested in understanding the cellular basis of neural computation in the mammalian brain. We are focusing on how the properties of neuronal dendrites and neural circuits contribute to information processing in the intact brain. To address these issues, we are integrating approaches and techniques at different levels of brain function in microcircuits of the cerebellar cortex and cerebral cortex. We primarily work on cerebellar Purkinje cells and cortical layer 5 pyramidal cells, the principal neurons in their respective networks.

Our group has been involved in developing a range of high-tech approaches for studying neural circuits, including two-photon imaging techniques, patch-clamp recordings from axons and dendrites, and recording from multiple synaptically connected cells.

These techniques are being applied in parallel to in vitro and in vivo preparations in order to investigate cellular mechanisms while placing them in the context of network activity. Our experiments are complemented by computational models of single neurons and networks of neurons. At each stage of our work, our aim is to links different levels of brain function, in order to ultimately reveal how single neurons and neural circuits contribute to behaviour.