Monitoring behaviorally relevant spatio-temporal activity patterns in prefrontal networks using in vivo wide field-microendoscopy (B04)

• Subject Area: Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 243553651

Responding to predicted rewards is a basic mental process. Its impairment may result in impulsive and compulsive actions, both key features in many psychopathologies including addictions. When an animal is faced with alternative reward options sparsely distributed populations of neurons (ensembles) are activated in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Using molecular activity tagging and longitudinal in-vivo calcium imaging recording from mPFC subregions, we want to gain insight into the formation, specificity, distinction and plasticity of prefrontal ensembles involved in the choice for natural or drug rewards.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1134: Functional ensembles: cellular components, patterned activity and plasticity of co-active neurons in local networks
• Major Instrumentation: nVistas HD System
• Instrumentation Group: 5170 Elektronenoptische Bildwandlergeräte und Bildverstärker (außer Fernsehanlagen 673)
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Co-Applicant Institution: Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit (ZI)
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Thomas Kuner; Professor Dr. Wolfgang Heinrich Sommer