CMCB Life Sciences Seminar: Prof. Dr. Antoine Adamantidis, University of Bern, Department of Neurology, Switzerland

Host: Henrik Bringmann (BIOTEC)

Title: "All-optical dissection of sleep structure and functions"

Abstract: Prof. A. Adamantidis’s research objectives aim at investigating the wiring, firing dynamics and plasticity of the neural circuits regulating sleep-wake states in normal and pathological states using in vitro and in vivo optogenetics combined to in vivo imaging and electophysiological methods in mice. His work is driven by questions such as What define a sleep/wake circuit and its dynamics across states?  and how sleep promotes brain plasticity in health and diseases?  His laboratory identified brain circuits essential for the architecture of sleep (i.e., sleep-wake switches) and brain plasticity during sleep. More recently, his lab demonstrated that sleep waves slow waves are essential to support brain plasticity after stroke, and discovered a new mechanism for brain plasticity during REM sleep important for the consolidation and transformation of emotional memories.