SFB 780:  Synaptic Mechanisms of Neuronal Network Function

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: from 2008 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 36698366

Information processing in neuronal brain networks takes place at specialised contact sites, termed synapses. Synapses are highly diverse, and their function is incompletely understood. The aim of this Collaborative Research Centre is to study the structural and functional properties of identified synapses in the brain and to understand how their properties shape the dynamic activity of neuronal networks. This Collaborative Research Centre will concentrate on cortical neuronal networks.
In particular, this Collaborative Research Centre aims three long-term goals. The first goal is to understand the mechanisms of signal transmission of identified glutamatergic and GABAergic synapses. The second goal is to examine modulation, functional plasticity and structural plasticity at synaptical junctions. The third goal is to acquire information about neuronal activity in vivo and to use this information, together with information about synaptic function obtained in vitro, to develop realistic network models. The interactive experimental-theoretical approach is likely to lead to a substantial increase in our understanding of neuronal network function at a quantitative level.
The interdisciplinary research programme aims to clarify these central questions of neuroscience with characterisation of neuronal networks using molecular, genetic, morphological, functional and imaging techniques. The studies will cover investigations from simple animal models up to the human brain. The long-term goal is to understand the synaptical basis of higher brain functions and to get closer to a central goal of neurosciences.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• International Connection: Switzerland

Completed projects

• A01 - The function of presynaptic Cav2 Ca2+ channels (Project Head Klugbauer, Norbert )
• A02 - Role of metabotropic receptors and their effector Kir3 channels in synaptic transmission (Project Head Kulik, Akos )
• A03 - Analysis of the protein microdomains of the voltage-activated N-type Ca2+ channel Cav2.2 in the CNS (Project Head Fakler, Bernd )
• A04 - Relation between structure and function of hippocampal mossy fiber synapses (Project Heads Frotscher, Michael ;  Jonas, Peter )
• A05 - Mechanisms of GABA release from synaptic terminals of inhibitory hippocampal interneurons (Project Head Jonas, Peter )
• B01 - Role of Parkinson's Disease-associated genes in polarized sorting and synapse dynamics modulating behavioral plasticity (Project Head Baumeister, Ralf )
• B02 - Role of TGF-â in the development and function of neuronal networks (Project Head Krieglstein, Kerstin )
• B03 - Dendritic signal processing in hippocampal granule cells (Project Head Bischofberger, Josef )
• B04 - Molecular Analysis of Synaptic AMPA Receptor Transport (Project Head Klöcker, Nikolaj )
• B05 - The role of Reelin in the regulation of synaptic transmission, neuronal plasticity, memory, and learning (Project Heads Bock, Hans Henrich ;  Frotscher, Michael ;  Herz, Joachim )
• B06 - Formation and function of olfactory neural circuits involving dopaminergic input (Project Heads Driever, Wolfgang ;  Friedrich, Rainer )
• C01 - Topographic maps and their synaptic circuits in modular and nonmodular (disorganized) rodent barrel cortex (Project Heads Hennig, Jürgen ;  Staiger, Jochen Ferdinand )
• C02 - Signal integration in the dentate gyrus under physiological and pathophysiological conditions (Project Heads Haas, Carola A. ;  Wolfart, Jakob )
• C03 - Phase relations between single neuron activity and local field potential oscillations in the human hippocampal formation during spatial and verbal memory tasks (Project Heads Hefft, Stefan ;  Schulze-Bonhage, Andreas )
• C04 - Influence of columnar and laminar synaptic connectivity patterns on spontaneous and stimulus-induced network dynamics in rat sensory neocortex (Project Heads Aertsen, Adrianus ;  Boucsein, Clemens ;  Rotter, Stefan )
• C05 - Cortical Networks, Stroke Recovery, Functional Neuroimaging, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Project Heads Lange, Rüdiger ;  Weiller, Cornelius )
• Z - Central Administration (Project Head Jonas, Peter )

• Applicant Institution: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
• Participating Institution: Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
• Spokespersons: Professor Dr. Peter Jonas, until 10/2010; Professor Dr. Norbert Klugbauer, since 11/2010