Only for SFB members: please attend the SFB rehearsals for the evaluation on:

June 22

August 13

August 26

September 3

September 7

Talks by Oda (SFB Neu01/NaviSense RF1 with Karin Dedek) & Masahiro (SFB Neu06 with Onur Güntürkün)

chair: Georg

ECR Meeting (NNGA + mainly SFB)

Guest talk by Stanley Heinze (Lund University)

The neural circuits underlying navigational decisions across insects

The insect central complex (CX) is a brain region responsible for context dependent action selection, in particular in relation to spatial orientation. Due to tight structure-function links, implemented neural computations are directly defined by the neural projection patterns and synaptic connectivity, making the CX a prime target for comparative analysis of circuit function. While the CX is fundamentally important, the demands on its circuits differ between species - depending on motor abilities, sensory environments, and behavioral strategies. To illuminate how evolution has modified these circuits to enable the diversity of insect ecologies, while leaving the region’s core functions intact, we have started to generate CX connectomes across the insect phylogeny. We aim at, firstly, defining the core elements of the CX circuits to determine their likely ancestral state, and secondly, at identifying evolutionary hotspots that allow novel functions to emerge. We have so far obtained EM image volumes for thirteen species. Although analysis is ongoing, we identified core circuit components that are similar across all analyzed insects. Yet, even highly conserved circuits contain hotspots of diversity that could serve as access points for evolutionary change. Additionally, we have identified entire sets of neurons that exist in some, but not other species, suggesting that species specific behavioral abilities could emerge from these unique elements. Our synaptic level circuit maps provide the basis for computational models that directly link circuit structure to predict functional properties.

https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/stanley-heinze/

Host: Basil el Jundi

Guest talk by Saikat Ray from Weizmann Institute of Science

Real world neuroscience

How does the brain represent the real world and our place within it?  I will describe my work with Egyptian fruit bats, where I performed wireless neural recordings in the hippocampal formation in freely flying bats – in (1) social groups in a laboratory-based cave, and (2) outside on an oceanic island. These studies provide the first insights into the neural encoding of real-world places and societies.

Saikat is a computational systems neuroscientist using ethological methods to understand the neural basis of real world animal behaviors.

Host: Henrik

Talks by Jessica (SFB Sig06 with Henrik Mouritsen) & Janis (NaviSense RF4 with Martin Fränzle)

Chair: Maryam

Talks by Jonathan (SFB Sig05 with Ilia Solov'yov) and Franziska (SFB Sig02 with Michael Winklhofer)

Chair: Sofia

Afterwards: BBQ :-)

Talks by Giovanna (NaviSense RF1 with Heiko Schmaljohann) & Sofia Ventura (SFB Nav07 with Sandra Bouwhuis)