Optophysiology – Optogenetics and Neurophysiology

Home / Optophysiology – Optogenetics and Neurophysiology

General
Team
External Website

General Information

Optophysiology – Optogenetics and Neurophysiology
Center for Neuroscience ZfN
University of Freiburg

Albertstraße 23
79104 Freiburg
Germany

How to get there

By train

From Freiburg Hbf (Central station) take the exit into the city and turn left. After a 5-10 minutes walk you reach the Albertstraße on the right.

By car

From south (e.g. Basel) or north (e.g. Karlsruhe): Motorway A5 Basel-Karlsruhe; take gateway 62: „Freiburg Mitte” (Center). Take the B31a direction “Freiburg/Donaueschingen”. Take B3 (exit “Merzhausen”) and turn right onto Stefan-Meier Straße. Shortly after you have passed the main train station on the left, turn right into the Albertstraße.

By airplane

Approx. 1 hour bus ride from the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg or 2 to 3 hours by train or car from Frankfurt, Stuttgart or Zürich airports.

The ability to move is a fundamental feature of most animals which allows them to actively interact with our environment. We are investigating the underlying neural mechanisms and circuits of this ability. We do so with electrophysiological recordings and optogenetic manipulations combined with behavioral analysis in rodents. We look into the local processing of movement preparation and generation in the motor cortex as well as higher order structures, e.g. prefrontal cortex.

The goal is to create a better understanding of how neural subpopulations and pathways within and across brain areas influence motor behavior. In order to address these scientific aims we are constantly working on improving the existing techniques. We currently focus on the design of new optoelectronic probes and targeting strategies. Apart from advancing our basic knowledge about the neural mechanisms of movements, our results might help improving the design of new prosthetic devices and understanding of disorders in which the normal production of movements is disrupted.