“State-of-the-art methods in Neuroscience Research”
27 – 29 September 2015
Hotel 13 de Julio, Mar del Plata
During the last years several new tools have been developed that made possible to dissect specific circuit players of precise animal behaviours. This lecture course is designed to provide PhD students and postdocs in neuroscience with a conceptual understanding of the techniques to study the connectivity and function of specific neuronal subtypes. The course will be divided into three main topics:
- The use of viruses to target specific neuronal subtypes: an up-to-date explanation of trans-synaptic viruses that allow for the identification of presynaptic circuits, retrograde viruses that target neuronal subpopulations according to their projection pattern, and intersectional approaches that combine Cre and Flip recombination through transgenic lines and/or virus delivery to dissect neuronal subclasses. Many of these strategies can be use not only to map the connectivity but also to manipulate the activity of neuronal subpopulations.
- Selective manipulation of neuronal activity in vivo: expression of light-sensitive channels or engineered receptors to depolarize or inhibit neurons through the delivery of light (optogenetics) or drugs (pharmacogenetics).
- Strategies to record neuronal activity in vivo: calcium imaging in superficial or deep structures using miniaturized microscopes, voltage-sensitive dyes to record neuronal firing activity, and single unit extracellular recordings of specific neuronal subpopulations identified by their response to light.
The course will be organized in lectures to present the theoretical aspects of each topic, followed by paper reading and discussion to illustrate the use of those methods and round tables to promote the implementation of these tools to the student’s own research.
Organising committee:
María Sol Fustiñana, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.
María Soledad Espósito, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.
Joaquín Piriz, IFIBIO Houssay, CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires
Lorena Rela, IFIBIO Houssay, CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires
Program
Day 1: 27/09/2015
18:00-19:00 Registration
19:15-19:30 Welcome words by course organizers
19:30-21:00 Lecture I: “Mapping neuronal networks with viral tools”
Dr. María Soledad Espósito
21:00 Dinner
Day 2: 28/09/2015
8:00-9:00 Breakfast
09:00-10:30 Group activity meeting – paper discussion
10:30-11:00 Coffee Break
11:00-12:30 Lecture II: “Behavioral manipulation with pharmacogenetic tools”
Dr. Marcelo de Oliveira Dietrich
12:30 -14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:30 Lecture III: “Extracellular recordings of light identified neurons and behavioral manipulations using optogenetic approaches”
Dr. Cyrril Herry
15:30-16:00 Coffee Break
16:00-17:30 Group activity meeting – paper discussion
17:30-19:00 Lecture IV: “ Head fixed two photon imaging of behaving animals”
Dr. Johannes Letzkus
20:00-21:00 Dinner
21:00-23:00 Poster presentation and refreshments
Day 3: 29/09/2015
8:00-9:00 Breakfast
09:00-10:30 Lecture V: “Miniscope imaging of freely moving behaving animals”
Dr. Mark Schnitzer
10:30-11:00 Coffee Break
11:00-12:30 Group activity meeting – paper discussion
12:30 -14:00 Lunch
14:00-16:30 Round table and closing remarks
Para más información sobre el SAN 2015, aquí
