Neural Circuit Dynamics Across Altered States of Consciousness

Hosted by Roberto and Greg

External speaker

Irene Rembado, Ph. D.

Position: Postdoc, Allen Institute

Title: Cortical and Thalamic Microcircuits Underlying EEG Signals Across Different Conscious and Unconscious States in Mice

Electroencephalography (EEG) is the most widely used method for investigating brain function in neuroscience and in the clinic. EEG signals and their direct derivative event-potentials (ERPs) are considered a fundamental cognitive tool providing a non-invasive and direct measurement of neural activity with high temporal resolution using and low-cost implementation. Despite its popularity, fundamental questions still pervade the science of EEG: which cells and circuits contribute to these signals? Specifically, little is known about the cortical and subcortical microcircuits and their interactions in both time and space that give rise to specific EEG features and measurements. To fill this gap our lab uses a multimodal approach that builds on state-of-the-art techniques to allow deep characterization of the functional and anatomical configurations of the neural microcircuit and their dynamics within and among different classes of cells, different layers within the cortex, different cortical areas, and thalamic nuclei. We use up to five Neuropixels (NpXs) probes, which are high-density extracellular electrodes on a linear shaft for simultaneous monitoring of 102-103 individual, well-separated units and local field potentials (LFPs) in head-fixed mice, with concurrent EEG recordings from up to 30 electrodes below the scalp of the animal. By administering substances that alter the conscious states of the animal, in particular the anesthetic isoflurane and urethane, and the psychedelic psilocybin, we expand this multimodal investigation with its translational attribute to different states of consciousness.

Local Berlin speaker

Roberto de Filippo, Ph. D.

Position: Postdoc, in AG Ott, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Title: Exploring neural correlates of the psychedelic experience in awake mice with multiple Neuropixel probes.

Among the diverse altered states of consciousness, psychedelics induce some of the most distinctive changes in conscious experience. While these effects have been explored within the predictive coding framework, conclusive evidence explaining their effect remains lacking. In this talk, I will first outline an ongoing experimental project conducted via the Openscope platform at the Allen Institute, investigating the effects of psilocybin during active behavior (change detection task). Additionally, I will present a preliminary analysis of an unpublished dataset (Rembado, Koch, et al.) also focused on psilocybin. This dataset, recorded using Neuropixel probes in head-fixed, awake mice during passive behavior, covers multiple cortical and
subcortical regions, offering new insights into how psychedelics influence neural circuits.

 

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This event is part of the PostDoc Network Speaker Series.

Guests are welcome!