Prof. Yarom is a world-renowned neurophysiologist whose research focuses on the mechanisms of brain oscillations during movement. He uses a wide range of approaches, from neuro-anatomy to electrical recordings, from optical imaging to molecular techniques to better understand how the various brain structures operate in orchestration in order to produce a desired movement, which enables us to behave in the world.
Selected Publications:
Yarom Y, Cohen D. (2002). The olivocerebellar system as a generator of temporal patterns. Ann NY Acad. Sci. 978:122-134. Review.
Devor A, Yarom Y. (2002) Generation and propagation of subthreshold waves in a network of inferior olivary neurons. J Neurophysiol. 87(6):3059-3069.
Hutcheon B, Yarom Y. (2000) Resonance, oscillation and the intrinsic frequency preferences of neurons. Trends Neurosci. 23(5):216-222. Review.
Uwe Heinemann (Humboldt-University, Berlin)
Chairman
Prof. Uwe Heinemann is a specialist in regulation of neuronal metabolism and ion homeostasis and has a deep interest in the physiological basis of the different working modes of the hippocampal formation. He is a world known specialist in epilepsy research.
Selected Publications:
Seiffert E, Dreier JP, Ivens S, Bechmann I, Tomkins O, Heinemann U, Friedman A. (2004) Lasting bloodbrain barrier disruption induces epileptic focus in the rat somatosensory cortex. J Neurosc. 24(36): 7829-7836
Gabriel S, Njunting M, Pomper J, Merschhemke M, Sanabria ERG, Eilers A, Kivi A, Zeller M, Meencke HJ, Cavalheiro EA, Heinemann U and Lehmann TN. (2004) Stimulus and potassium-induced epileptiform activity in the human dentate gyrus from patients with and without hippocampal sclerosis. J Neurosc. 24 (46) in press
Kann O, Kovacs R, Heinemann U. (2003) Metabotropic receptor-mediated Ca2+ signaling elevates mitochondrial Ca2+ and stimulates oxidative metabolism in hippocampal slice cultures. J Neurophysiol. 90(2):613-621.
Hermona Soreq (Hebrew University, Jerusalem)
Prof. Hermona Soreq is one of the most creative molecular neuroscientists in Israel. Her research is primarily directed at the cholinesterase genes, their variant proteins products and the biological roles of these proteins in different tissue and cell types. Using transgenic expression vectors, she studies the role of Acetylcholinesterase in several clinical syndromes.
Selected Publications:
Dori A, Cohen J, Silverman WF, Pollack Y, Soreq H. (2004) Functional manipulations of Acetylcholinesterase splice variants highlight alternative splicing contributions to murine neocortical development. Cereb. Cortex. in press.
Meshorer E, Erb C, Gazit R, Pavlovsky L, Kaufer D, Friedman A, Glick D, Ben-Arie N, Soreq H. (2002) Alternative splicing and neuritic mRNA translocation under long-term neuronal hypersensitivity. Science. 295:508-512.
Soreq H, Seidman S. (2001) Acetylcholinesterase: new roles for an old actor. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2(4):294-302.
Arthur Konnerth (Technical University, Munich)
Prof. Arthur Konnerth is considered one of the best and most prolific cell physiologists in Germany; his research is focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying neurophysiological processes. Arthur Konnerth developed and continues to develop the most sophisticated modern techniques enabling the visualization of brain activity from sub-cellular levels to integrated networks of neurons.
Selected Publications:
Rose CR, Blum R, Pichler B, Lepier A, Kafitz KW, Konnerth A. (2003) Truncated TrkB-T1 mediates neurotrophin-evoked calcium signaling in glia cells. Nature. 426(6962):74-8.
Stosiek C, Garaschuk O, Holthoff K, Konnerth A. (2003) In vivo two-photon calcium imaging of neuronal networks. PNAS. 100(12):7319-24.
Kovalchuk Y, Hanse E, Kafitz KW, Konnerth A. (2002) Postsynaptic Induction of BDNF-Mediated Long-Term Potentiation. Science. 295(5560):1729-34.
Menahem Segal (Weizmann Institute, Rehovot)
Prof. Menahem Segal is one of the most productive neuroscientists in Israel; his research is centered on synaptic plasticity that is involved in learning and memory storage in the hippocampus. Using electrophysiology, imaging, and molecular techniques, he addresses these questions on sub-cellular and cellular levels.
Selected Publications:
Kamsler A, Segal M. (2003) Hydrogen peroxide modulation of synaptic plasticity. J Neurosci. 23(1):269-76.
Vicario-Abejon C, Owens D, McKay R, Segal M. (2002) Role of neurotrophins in central synapse formation and stabilization. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 3(12):965-74.
Korkotian E, Segal M. (2001) Spike-associated fast contraction of dendritic spines in cultured hippocampal neurons. Neuron. 30(3):751-58.
Alexander Borst (Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Munich)
Prof. Alexander Borst is considered one of the best computational neurophysiologists in Germany; his research is focused on motion detection in flies visual system. In his work, he combines experimental and theoretical analysis at various levels of complexity ranging from the membrane properties and pharmacology of individual neurons, to simple motion driven reflexes observed behavior.
Selected Publications:
Haag J, Borst A. (2004) Neural mechanism underlying complex receptive field properties of motion-sensitive interneurons. Nat Neurosci. 7(6):628-34.
Borst A. (2003) Noise, not stimulus entropy, determines neural information rate. J Comput Neurosci. 14(1):23-31.
Single S, Borst A. (1998) Dendritic integration and its role in computing image velocity. Science. 281(5384):1848-50.
