Our aim is to understand how the dopamine system regulates a neural network important for working memory in mice, consisting mainly of the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, and how this network is affected by dopamine dysfunction in a validated mouse model of schizophrenia. This objective will be achieved by taking advantage of the different but complementary areas of expertise of the three research groups in the proposal: Sevil Duvarci and Jochen Roeper will focus on a detailed analysis of electrical firing patterns of dopamine midbrain neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), while using optogenetic tools to determine their identity and projection targets. Torfi Sigurdsson will focus on the neural coordination between the VTA, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, and use optogenetics to determine the causal influence of VTA activity on coordination within the network as a whole. Gaby Schneider will develop novel analysis tools for examining and modeling electrical firing patterns of single DA VTA neurons, their interaction on the population level and their coordination within the working memory network.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
