NEWSLETTER Georg-August-Universität Göttingen ∙ International Max Planck Research School

FEB 2014 NEUROSCIENCE NEWSLETTER Georg-August-Universität Göttingen ∙ International Max Planck Research School

New Frontiers in... CONTENT … Neuroscience New Frontiers in Neuroscience...... 1 International Neuroscience PhD programs in Germany...... 3 Welcome to the 3rd Neuro-Newsletter The somatosensory system...... 5 published by the Göttingen Inter- (IMPRS) for Neurosciences was evalu- Insights into synapse assembly...... 8 national Master/PhD/MD-PhD Pro- ated by an international group of re- The small axe hurls down the big trees...... 12 gram and International Max Planck viewers who unanimously proposed a Master’s class 2012/13...... 15 Research School (IMPRS) for Neuro- continuation of funding until 2018. Master’s class 2013/14...... 16 sciences. PhD projects started in 2012...... 17 Besides securing funding from differ- PhD projects started in 2013...... 18 The past 2 years mark another period of ent sources, the MSc/PhD/MD-PhD The Doctors of 2012...... 19 success for the community of neurosci- Program for Neurosciences also had The Doctors of 2013...... 20 entists in Göttingen. Both major grant to formally renew its accreditation as a Work- Life Balance in Cologne...... 21 applications in the field of the neuro- degree-awarding program. After quite Postdoc in Göttingen...... 22 sciences in the framework of the federal intense debates, the representatives of The German adventure continues…...... 24 excellence initiative were selected for the Neuroscience Program were able Science or medicine?...... 25 funding again: The Cluster of Excel- to convince the reviewers to validate From PhD to scientific publishing...... 27 lence Nanoscale Microscopy / DFG Re- the proven concept of an integrated Creutzfeldt Award...... 29 search Center Molecular Physiology of MSc/PhD school with its intensive 1st Stipends/Honors/Prizes...... 29 the Brain (CNMPB) and the Göttingen year of research-oriented training and Joining the program in 2012 and 2013...... 30 Graduate School for Neurosciences, ‘fast track’ option. The existing unique Left the program since 2011...... 31 Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences scheme with university and non-univer- Current Faculty Members...... 32 (GGNB) secured the federal funding sity faculty contributing to the English GGNB career service...... 33 until the end of 2017. Moreover, also curriculum has been accredited by the NEURIZONS 2013...... 35 the MSc/PhD/MD-PhD Program / Inter- Central Evaluation Agency in Hanover Joint Training in the Neurosciences ...... 38 national Max Planck Research School without any imposed changes. Fully Campus events...... 39

NEURIZONS Symposium in May 2013 at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry Neurosciencein Göttingen…

accredited and funded, the Neuro- Managing Director at the Max Planck experience of the past years and ac- science Program will carry on to sub- Institute for Biophysical Chemistry and tive cooperation across disciplines and stantially contributing to the contents head of the department of Genes and beyond institutional borders embed- and budget for training of doctoral stu- Behaviour. He successfully guided ded in well established European and dents in GGNB. the school through a critical transition worldwide research and training part- phase during which the above men- nerships, the members of the Göttingen Besides constantly integrating new fac- tioned funding was achieved. The IM- Research Campus will have to develop ulty, the past years also mark a period of PRS warmly welcomes Gregor Eichele, convincing concepts in the competition ‘generation change’ with several faculty who officially became the dean of the for funding for research and training in members leaving the program due to IMPRS in January 2013. Parallel to the the field of the neurosciences and bio- retirement: Namely, Erwin Neher, who continuous changes and adaptations of physics. was the dean of the IMPRS for Neuro- the training curriculum of the Neurosci- sciences since its start in the year 2000 ence Program reflecting the dynamics until 2012, and Diethelm Richter, also of emerging research topics within the founding member of the Neuroscience neuroscientific community in Göttin- Program and former speaker of the DFG gen, the new dean will ensure continu- Research Center Molecular Physiology ity and also help to implement further Gregor Eichele of the Brain. The program wholeheart- development of the Neuroscience Pro- Speaker of the Max Planck Research School edly thanks them for their efforts and gram. continuous support which shaped the Detlev Schild Neuroscience Program from the very Although the contours of future funding Speaker of the MSc/PhD/MD-PhD Program beginning until now over more than a schemes from the German federal gov- decade. ernment are still vague and it remains Sandra Drube unclear if the excellence initiative will Program Assistant Meanwhile, the IMPRS for Neuro- be continued, the neuroscientific com- sciences nominated and appointed the munity in Göttingen seems prepared Michael Hörner new dean Gregor Eichele, currently for the next funding calls. Based on the Scientific Coordinator of the Program

DISCLAIMER / IMPRINT

Publisher: Coordination Office of the International MSc/PhD/MD-PhD Neuroscience Program Design and page layout:LifeTechMedia (Martin Nolte, Eva-Maria Twehues) and Neuroscience Coordination Office (Sandra Drube, Michael Hörner)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this newsletter by the authors of articles are not necessarily those of the Neuroscience program. All reasonable measures have been taken to ensure that the material contained in this newsletter is correct. However, the Neuroscience program gives no war- ranty and accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or the completeness of the material.

2 NEUROSCIENCE Neurosciencein Germany… International Neuroscience PhD programs in Germany by Jonas Barth and Michael Hörner

Currently, the Göttingen Research Cam- ternational perspective ever since it was to be the almost only neuro-related PhD pus integrating several university and started. It was among the first interna- program for Bachelor degree holders non-university institutions represents tional schools in Germany run in Eng- providing an integrated MSc/PhD track one of the largest neuroscience faculties lish from ‘first contact to graduation’, with an intensive one year MSc train- in Germany. The CNMPB alone com- providing a comprehensive researching phase and a fast-track option prior prises more than 60 principal investiga- oriented training for international stu- to the PhD phase. tors plus 30 postdoctoral fellows and 59 dents without prior knowledge of the doctoral students. In addition, the Euro- German language. Beyond the accomplished status, inter- pean Neuroscience Institute (ENI-G, 7 national marketing activities will have junior groups), the German Center for Over the last decade, the number of to be kept up persistently, and will Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE, neuro-related study programs signifi- more and more include the increasing 5 groups), the Institute for Multiple cantly increased Sclerosis Research (IMSF, 4 groups), worldwide – with the Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology now more than 30 (BFNT, 16 groups), 3 Max Planck Insti- international PhD tutes, the German Primate Center and programs (see list the natural science faculties of the uni- below) in Germa- versity and the faculty of medicine all ny alone. Despite host research groups in various fields of increasing compe- the neurosciences. tition, the Göttin- gen Neuroscience As a result, diverse fields of neuro- Program continues science-related research areas, ranging to successfully at- from quantitative studies on molecu- tract high num- lar and cellular mechanisms including bers of applicants modelling of brain function to the in- of good academic vestigation of neurological and neuro- quality providing degenerative diseases as a basis for the basis for a se- clinical studies are represented in Göt- lection of excellent tingen. candidates. In fact, the MSc/PhD/MD- Such given diversity and size of the neu- Program / IMPRS rosciences in Göttingen require a confor Neurosciences tinuous recruitment and education of again received a talented young scientists. Presently, the new record num- local PhD programs on the Göttingen ber of applica- Research Campus in the various fields tions in 2014 (323 of the neurosciences comprise more applicants for 20 MSc study places). The number of alumni worldwide. Likewise than 200 doctoral students, thus, one of Göttingen program now seems to have stronger networking with our partners the largest communities of doctoral stu- successfully established its brand name in the EU involving the implementa- dents in the field in Germany. Since the and is visible even after integration into tion of joint training activities such as foreseeable number of graduates from the bigger Graduate School GGNB with the ELECTRAIN course will also help Germany alone was and will not be suf- more than 430 doctoral students, ca. to attract the best scholars in the neuro- ficient to fill vacant PhD positions, the 200 postdoctoral fellows and 214 fa- sciences to Göttingen in the future. Neuroscience Program had a clear in- culty members. In Germany it remains

NEUROSCIENCE 3 Neurosciencein Germany…

International PhD programs in the neurosciences as listed in the DAAD database (‘PhDGermany’)

NAME OF PHD PROGRAM UNIVERSITY ESTABLISHED PhD STUDENTS 1 Berlin School of Mind and Brain Berlin 2006 45 2 Helmholtz Intl. Research School Molecular Neurobiology Berlin 2007 39 3 International Doctoral Programme Computational Berlin 2007 46 Neuroscience 4 International Graduate Programme Medical Neurosciences Berlin 2002 83 5 International Graduate School Neuroscience IGSN Bochum 2001 60 6 Theoretical and Experimental Medicine - Medical Bonn 2012 38 Neuroscience 7 iBrain - Graduate School for Brain Research and Düsseldorf 2012 20 Translational Neuroscience 8 IMPRS in Structure and Function of Biological Membranes Frankfurt 2000 25 9 IMPRS Neural Circuits Frankfurt 2011 22 10 iCoNet-Intl. PhD Program Computational Neuroscience Freiburg 2010 31 & Neurotechnology 11 MSc/PhD/MD-PhD and IMPRS for Neurosciences Göttingen 2000 34 12 Molecular Physiology of the Brain Göttingen 2007 35 13 Sensory and Motor Neuroscience Göttingen 2007 31 14 Systems Neuroscience Göttingen 2007 30 15 Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience Göttingen 2007 15 16 Behavior and Cognition Göttingen 2012 17 17 Center for Systems Neuroscience Hannover 2002 60 18 Interdisciplinary Center for Neuroscience Heidelberg 2004 35 19 IMPRS Organismal Biology Konstanz 2004 64 20 IMPRS Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Leipzig 2009 35 Structure, and Plasticity 21 MSc/PhD Program Integrative Neuroscience Magdeburg 1997 80 22 Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences München 2006 129 23 IMPRS Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences München 2005 99 24 Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Münster 2006 21 Neuroscience 25 Research Academy Biomed. Eng. and Science of Hearing Oldenburg 2012 20 and Sensory Systems 26 PhD program Neurosensory Science and Systems Oldenburg 2009 80 27 Cognitive Science PhD Programme Osnabrück 2002 47 28 International PhD programme Neurobiology Regensburg 2012 20 29 Graduate School of Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience Tübingen 2007 62 30 Graduate School of Neural & Behavioural Sciences (IMPRS) Tübingen 1999 127 31 Graduate School of Neural Information Processing (IMPRS) Tübingen 2011 15 32 Graduate School of Life Sciences Section Neuroscience Würzburg 2006 67

4 NEUROSCIENCE Science Spotlight2014 The somatosensory system: Exploration of digit-area somatotopy and feature-based attention by Meike Schweisfurth

With behavioral tools and functional to a somatotopic organization of the chuelo et al., 2012). We approached magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), primary somatosensory cortex (SI), the that issue with two studies which are basic questions of touch processing concept of areas next to each other at discussed in the following paragraphs. have been explored, focusing on two the skin generally being also represent- different aspects of the human sense ed next to each other in SI. This soma- In a first study (Schweisfurth et al., of touch. First, we explored whether totopy could first be shown by Penfield 2011), we tactilely stimulated (see Fig. and how the peripheral digit-area to- and coworkers (Penfield and Boldrey, 1a for stimulation technique) the right- pography is reflected in the position 1937; Penfield and Rasmussen, 1950) hand tips and bases of the little and of cortical digit and phalanx repre- through electrophysiological research index finger of right-handed subjects sentations, investigating the presence on individual epileptic patients. The undergoing high-resolution fMRI. By of across-digit and intra-digit somato- primary somatosensory cortex of these stimulating only one location at a time, typo. Second, the existence of global humans could schematically be dean activation map could be calculated feature-based attention in the somato- scribed as a sensory homunculus - a for each location in individual sub- sensory domain is assessed, exploring little sensory man - in the cortex, pre- jects. Interestingly, we observed similar the issue both with behavioral tools senting with a general somatotopy (de- patterns across subjects between the and functional imaging. spite some across-subject consistent representations of tip and base of the discontinuities) and enlarged repre- little finger, whereas highly individual Even though the skin is by far the largest sentations of those areas most impor- representation patterns were found be- sensory organ that we humans possess tant to touch, as the digits and the lips. tween the index-finger locations. and immensely important for coping Within each hand, a medial-to-lateral with everyday life, the somatosensory succession from the little finger (D5) to To re-validate these results and gener- system has been studied far less than the thumb (D1) was observed within alize them to other digits of the domi- the visual system. The somatosensory contralateral SI. For the fingertips, this nant hand, we performed a second system can be subdivided into four succession has also repetitively been study in which all phalanges were rather distinct modalities, being pro- confirmed with functional magnetic mapped, comprising the most com- prioception, temperature sensation, resonance imaging (fMRI) (e.g. Sch- plete fMRI digit-area mapping ever pain sensation, as well as the sense weizer et al. 2008; Nelson and Chen, conducted in human subjects. On of touch, which allows us to explore 2008). the across-digit level, this approach objects standing in direct contact with allowed to show for the first time that our skin. In this research report, I will Penfield and colleagues did not ex- not only the tips but also the second focus on my work on touch percep- plore whether such a succession could and third phalanges show a medial- tion which I have conducted during also be observed within individual dig- to-lateral D5-to-D1 succession. To ex- my PhD project carried out jointly at its, i.e. whether there exists an across- plore whether a digit’s p1-to-p3 repre- the Biomedizinische NMR Forschungs subject consistent somatotopy from sentation patterns were similar across GmbH at the Max Planck Institute for the fingertip (p1) to its proximal pha- subjects, a novel analysis method Biophysical Chemistry and at the Cog- lanx (p3) or even base (p4) in humans based on principal component analy- nitive Neuroscience Laboratory at the (for notation, see Fig. 1b). Although the sis, t-test, and binomial tests was de- German Primate Center (DPZ). question has been explored in several signed, as the data were too complex studies, it still remains inconclusive to be analyzed by the commonly-used If a specific location at the skin is due to disagreement between results visual inspection pattern-analysis ap- touched, a signal is transmitted to the both in monkeys (electrophysiological proach. In intriguing agreement with brain that ultimately might generate a data, e.g. Kaas et al., 1979; Iwamura our previous study, we found similar conscious tactile sensation perceived et al., 1983) and in humans (imaging patterns across subjects for the little at the touched location. This kind of data, Blankenburg et al., 2003; Over- finger and (in a trend) for the ring fin- localizable perception is possible due duin and Servos, 2004; Sanchez-Pan- ger, whereas very individual patterns

NEUROSCIENCE 5 Science2014 Spotlight

were obtained not only again for the vance to an individual at a given point In the first study, we explored whether index finger but also for the middle in time, allowing for perception of the reaction times to orientations depend finger and thumb. The results are sche- assumingly most important events at on which orientation has been cued matically shown in Fig. 1c. the expense of others. For the visual and then attended. Slightly simplified, system, it has been repeatedly shown the design was the following: Subjects So far, we can only speculate why that attention can be directed to loca- had to react immediately upon presen- some digits of the dominant hand tions (spatial attention), objects, and tation of vertical or horizontal orienta- seem to present with a similar cortical- features (for a review, see Treue, 2003). tions but to ignore other orientations. representation pattern across digits A very vivid demonstration of feature- Before each block of trials, they were while others do not. We think that the based attention (FBA) has been de- informed which target orientation (ver- individuality of the representation pat- livered via the stimulus dimension of tical or horizontal) was more likely to tern might be related to the individual- colors (Simons and Chabris, 1999), appear (cued orientation). However, ity of the respective digit’s use in eve- where subjects tend to miss the pres- this information was only true for one ryday life: While the little finger and ence of a black gorilla due to entirely location (cued location), whereas at ring finger mainly serve for stabiliza- concentrating on white objects. a second, uncued location both tar- tion of objects which probably is done get orientations were equally likely. similar across subjects, the remaining Here, we aim to explore FBA in the Interestingly, faster reaction times in fingers are involved in highly complex tactile modality, which has hardly ever response to the cued compared to the precision tasks as e.g. writing which been approached (Forster and Eimer, uncued orientation were observed not are solved in a much more individual 2004) despite its relevance for eve- only at the cued but also at the uncued manner. ryday-life situations as e.g. searching location (Fig. 2b). As subjects should for a silk scarf in the dark. So far, we have attended to the cued orientation The second main focus of my project have carried out two studies, both only at the cued location, the FBA ef- has addressed the question of feature- using tactile orientation as stimulus fect must have spread over to the other based attention in touch. Attention is dimension, presented to the fingertips location (as visualized in Fig. 2c), for the selective modulation of sensory via a custom-built tactile stimulator the first time revealing a global effect signals based on their potential rele- (see Fig. 2a). of tactile FBA in a behavioral study.

In a recent pilot study we then aimed for cortical localization of the observed FBA effect in touch, adapting the paradigm to fMRI and keeping as many parameters as possible constant. So far, no cortical correlates of the be- haviorally observed FBA effect could be found in the primary (SI) or second- ary somatosensory cortex (SII). How- ever, this first study has revealed sev- Fig. 1a: Illustration of one tactile eight-pin stimulator (stimulation frequency 32 Hz) as well as of eral useful insights that will be exploit a positioning example (here exemplary for the ring finger). when addressing the issue with further Fig. 1b: On a hand scheme, the used notation and color code are introduced. studies. Fig. 1c: Demonstration of the results: While we found a cortical ordering from D5 to D1 for all three phalanges, only the little finger (and in a trend the ring finger) presented with a p1-to-p3 In conclusion, several controversial succession similar across subjects (scheme adapted from Fig. 23 7 A, Gardner and Kandel, and novel issues concerning the hu- 2000). man somatosensory system have been

6 NEUROSCIENCE Science Spotlight2014

Fig. 2a: Illustration of fingertip stimulation with different orientations. Fig. 2b: Results of the reaction-time study: Faster responses were observed for targets with the cued compared to the uncued orientation, at both locations. Fig. 2c: Visualization of the global feature-based attentional effect: Concentrating at an orientation at one location leads to faster detection at another location.

Meike SCHWEISFURTH did her doctoral thesis jointly in Jens Frahm’s department, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Biomedizinische NMR Forschungs GmbH, and in Stefan Treue’s department, German Primate Center, Cognitive Neuro- science Laboratory. Her doctoral thesis and oral defense was rated ‘summa cum laude’ by a team of internal and external reviewers. She defended her PhD thesis in June 2013. addressed here, focusing on digit-area somatotopy and feature-based atten- Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, tion and emphasizing that more atten- Biomedical NMR Research Group, tion should be devoted to the rather Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen special sense of touch.

References 1. Blankenburg F, Ruben J, Meyer R, Schwiemann J, Villringer A (2003) Evidence for a rostral-to-caudal somatotopic organization in human primary somatosensory cortex with mirror-reversal in areas 3b and 1. Cerebral Cortex 13: 987-993. 2. Forster B, Eimer M (2004) The attentional selection of spatial and non-spatial attributes in touch: ERP evidence for parallel and independent processes. Biological Psychology 66: 1-20. 3. Gardner EP, Kandel ER (2000) 23. Touch. In: Principles of Neural Science., 4th Edition Edition (Kandel ES, JH; Jessell, TM; Siegelbaum, SA; Hudspeth, AJ, ed), pp 498-529. New York: McGraw-Hill. 4. Iwamura Y, Tanaka M, Sakamoto M, Hikosaka O (1983) Functional subdivisions representing different finger regions in area 3 of the first somatosensory cortex of the conscious monkey. Experimental Brain Research 51: 315-326. 5. Kaas JH, Nelson RJ, Sur M, Lin CS, Merzenich MM (1979) Multiple representations of the body within the primary somatosensory cortex of primates. Science 204: 521-523. 6. Nelson AJ, Chen R (2008) Digit somatotopy within cortical areas of the postcentral gyrus in humans. Cerebral Cortex 18: 2341-2351. 7. Overduin SA, Servos P (2004) Distributed digit somatotopy in primary somatosensory cortex. NeuroImage 23: 462-472. 8. Penfield W, Boldrey E (1937) Somatic motor and sensory representation in the cerebral cortex of man as studied by electrical stimulation. Brain 60: 389-443. 9. Penfield W, Rasmussen T (1950) The cerebral cortex of man: A clinical study of localization of function. New York: Macmillan. 10. Schweisfurth MA, Schweizer R, Frahm J (2011) Functional MRI indicates consistent intra-digit topographic maps in the little but not the index finger within the human primary somatosensory cortex. NeuroImage 56: 2138-2143. 11. Schweizer R, Voit D, Frahm J (2008) Finger representations in human primary somatosensory cortex as revealed by high-resolution functional MRI of tactile stimulation. NeuroImage 42: 28-35. 12. Simons DJ, Chabris CF (1999) Gorillas in our midst: Sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. Perception 28: 1059-1074. 13. Treue S (2003) Visual attention: the where, what, how and why of saliency. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 13: 428-432.

NEUROSCIENCE 7 Science2014 Spotlight Insights into synapse assembly...... from the fly neuromuscular junction by David Owald

Brain function relies on communi- regulating it range over nanometer tants in forward genetic screens. Such cation between neurons at synaptic distances. To reach such precision the screens have revealed sets of genes in- contacts. Synapses are comprised of a cells need a sophisticated machinery volved in synaptic integrity and have defined set of specialised proteins that that allows for tight interplay of the unravelled genes needed for learning control the release and detection of controlling factors. and memory (4,5). The degree of con- neurotransmitters in space and time. servation between the proteins used at It thus makes sense that formation of The site where neurotransmitter re- mammalian synapses and those used synaptic contacts is highly regulated lease (exocytosis) takes place (the at invertebrate synapses is remarkable. during development but also during presynaptic active zone (1,2)) harbours plastic processes, such as learning. I several different proteins that help Over the last few decades, the Dro- will summarize our recent insights on capture synaptic vesicles, bring them sophila larval neuromuscular junc- synapse assembly at the Drosophila into close proximity with the plasma tion (NMJ) has proven to be valuable melanogaster larval neuromuscular membrane and then prime them to be for discovering functional but also junction. release-ready upon arrival of a signal structural synaptic abnormalities (6). (2). This signal is mediated by calcium The NMJ comprises multiple synaptic Neurons communicate with each other that enters the active zone compart- contacts, formed by presynaptic active via contacts that are either formed by ment via localized calcium channels zones, which are matched by postsyn- pores (electrical synapses) or by spe- (2). The molecular machinery regulat- aptic neurotransmitter receptor fields. cialized nerve endings and receiving ing exocytosis is organized by scaf- The overall architecture is relatively ends (chemical synapses). The majority fold proteins (2). These scaffolds are stereotypical but shows structural and of synapses in our brain are believed typically large in size and form large functional plasticity at the level of in- to be chemical. Signals arising at these meshworks. At some synapses, these dividual synapses. It is specifically sites are subject to high degrees of mod- so-called electron-dense bodies can useful for studying de novo assembly ulation. Communication at chemical be visualized using electron micros- of synapses, because the presynaptic synapses has an underlying direction- copy (3). motoneuron terminals are constantly ality: information arrives at the presyn- required to match the rapid growth of aptic terminal in the form of electrical It is conceivable that scaffolds play the larval body wall muscles. signals, such as action potentials, and major roles during synapse formation, is then relayed to the postsynaptic cell. maturation and maintenance. Forma- One gene recently discovered to be The relayed information is encoded in tion of new synapses, along with modi- crucial for nervous system function in specific molecules (neurotransmitters). fication of existing synapses, is widely Drosophila is the active zone protein These are stored in membranous (syn- believed to underlie processes such as Bruchpilot (BRP, 7). BRP is a homo- aptic) vesicles that fuse with the pre- learning and memory. But how is syn- logue to the mammalian family of synaptic membrane upon arrival of an apse assembly regulated? CAST/ELKS proteins and mutants for action potential. The neurotransmitters brp show decreased evoked neuro- are released into the synaptic cleft (the Genetically modifiable invertebrate transmitter release and delocalized area between the pre- and postsynap- model systems (for example of the ne- calcium channels (8). Most strikingly, tic membranes). After bridging this gap mamtode Caenorhabditis elegans or the mutants for brp lose their electron they bind to specialized receptors on vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster) dense projections (T bars) at the cen- the postsynaptic side that subsequent- have widely served scientists to iden- tre of the active zone. We first asked ly lead to an electrical or a chemical tify genes involved in neural function. whether BRP regulates the assembly modulation of that cell. This is due to the ease of genetic ma- of the T bars, or whether the T bar is nipulation and a short generation time, directly made up of BRP molecules Neurotransmission takes place on a paired with simple behavioural read- (9). Using two antibodies, one recog- millisecond timescale and the signals outs, making it easy to identify mu- nizing an N-terminal and the other

8 NEUROSCIENCE Science Spotlight2014

recognizing a C-terminal epitope, and In line with this observation, we found Liprin-a also preceded postsynaptic confocal light microscopy or immuno- that calcium channel localization was glutamate receptor assembly. Hence, electron microscopy, we were able to not affected in brp mutants at smaller Liprin-a and Syd-1 could function estimate a polarized elongated confor- (younger) synapses. By contrast, at lat- at the top of the temporal hierarchy mation of the BRP epitopes (9). If the T er stages (as the synapse matures), cal- of synapse assembly. Indeed, Syd-1 bar were comprised of BRP, truncated cium channel clustering was impaired arrived at synapses in close temporal BRP should lead to truncated T bars. (9). Interestingly, in follow-up publica- proximity to Liprin-a, preceding the To get our hands on truncated BRP, tions, BRP was shown to be involved in arrival of BRP. We further revealed that we conducted a chemical mutagenesis tethering of synaptic vesicles (13) and Liprin-a distribution was abnormal in screen that allowed us to introduce in defining the number of release slots syd-1 mutants. By contrast, in liprin-a random mutations into the Drosophila per active zone (14). mutants, Syd-1 localized to synapses, genome. Crossing the candidates to a thus confirming that Syd-1 functions brp null allele uncovered novel muta- If BRP is not responsible for regulating upstream of Liprin-a. Notably, in both tions in the brp gene. One allele that early active zone assembly, which fac- liprin-a and syd-1 mutants, synapses we isolated encoded for about 80% of tors are? A genetic screen in C. elegans still assembled, although at significant- the protein. T bars still formed in these had identified a group of genes needed ly lower numbers. mutants, but their appearance was ab- for proper active zone assembly (syn- normal and truncated. apse defective, syd genes, 15). One of The active zones formed in syd-1 mu- these genes, Syd-2, is the orthologue tants were, however, frequently aber- If BRP forms the T bar, is it also the of Drosophila Liprin-a. The Droso- rant in shape: they showed either over- factor that initiates active zone as- phila orthologue to Syd-1 was identi- grown or undergrown T bars, as well as sembly? To address this question, we fied as an interaction partner of BRP ectopic electron dense material. This made use of live imaging protocols. in a proteomics screen conducted by misdistribution was Liprin-a depen- We followed the formation of synapses the Sigrist lab (16). Mechanistically, C. dent, as double mutants did not show by combining fluorescently-tagged elegans Syd-1 was found to positively increased accumulation of BRP at ac- proteins expressed in motoneurons or regulate Syd-2 (Liprin-a) during the tive zones. In summary, Syd-1 func- muscles (previously developed in the assembly of en passant synapses (17, tions upstream of BRP and is involved Sigrist lab, see 10 or 11). Larvae were 18). We discovered that Drosophila in the appropriate distribution of active anesthetized and identified NMJs were Syd-1 localizes to active zones (Fig. 1). zone material (19). imaged repeatedly, with a delay of Furthermore, when probed with STED minutes or days. To unravel temporal microscopy, Syd-1 was revealed to Is Liprin-a the only target of Syd-1? hierarchies, protein composition at in- closely surround the BRP core (T bar) First hints that this is not the case came dividual synapses was scored for each in an apparently regular array. At high from simple locomotion experiments time point. resolution, Liprin-a localization close- in which syd-1 mutants performed ly resembled that of Syd-1 (19). Our in poorly, while liprin-a mutants were not We found that BRP assembly took vivo imaging showed that presynaptic gravely affected. Moreover, postsynap- place later than that of postsynaptic tic receptor fields overgrew in syd-1 glutamate receptors, and also later mutant, a phenotype not reversed in than the arrival of other presynaptic ac- syd-1, liprin-a double mutants. We tive zone markers, such as Liprin-a. Of realized that mutants for the cell ad- note, Liprin-a is a protein previously hesion protein Neuroligin and its pre- identified to be needed for proper ac- synaptic binding partner Neurexin ex- tive zone assembly in Drosophila (12). Fig. 1: GFP-tagged Syd-1 marks individual hibited similar pre- and postsynaptic This indicated that BRP played a role active zones at the Drosophila NMJ. abnormalities as syd-1 mutants did (20, at later stages of active zone assembly. Pseudocoloured. Scale bar: 1.5 µm. 21).

NEUROSCIENCE 9 Science2014 Spotlight

In order to probe a potential connec- Fig. 2: Scheme of tion between Neuroligin and Syd-1, synapse assembly we made use of a truncated Neuroligin at the Drosophila construct that suppressed NMJ growth NMJ. a) Markers in wild type and liprin-a mutant larvae for early and late (20). Strikingly, this construct had no phase of active effect on NMJ growth in neurexin or zone assembly. syd-1 mutants (22), suggesting that the b) Scheme of dominant-negative phenotype caused interactions during by the overexpression of truncated synapse assembly. Neuroligin was dependent on the presence of both Neurexin and Syd-1. In line with these three proteins functioning in a common pathway, Neuroli- gin and Neurexin immunoreactivity was largely reduced in syd-1 mutants. Moreover, Neurexin and Syd-1 co-pre- of Neurexin. In line with a PDZ-medi- Liprin-a and Syd-1 clusters appeared cipitated in the same complex. Indeed, ated interaction, the mutated Syd-1 no to be highly dynamic, potentially ac- overexpression of Syd-1 changed the longer recruited Neurexin to the active counting for the presynaptic defects distribution of Neurexin at the presyn- zone centre. Thus, Syd-1 appears to in- observed. Meanwhile, the protein Trio aptic terminal, dragging it into the ac- fluence Neurexin localization and, via was identified as an additional sub- tive zone moiety rather than its peri- this link, also the postsynaptic localiza- strate of Syd-1 in flies (23), while mam- synaptic distribution. Syd-1 comprises tion of Neuroligin. As a consequence malian Syd-1 (mSYD1A) was shown to a PDZ domain while Neurexin has a of this, mutants for syd-1, neurexin and interact with Munc18-1 (24). corresponding PDZ-interacting motif. neuroligin all exhibited populations of We mutated the PDZ domain of Syd-1, postsynaptic densities with inverted This leaves us with a model (Fig. 2) overexpressed this construct in moto- distributions of AMPA receptor sub- where fly Syd-1 interacts with Liprin-a neurons, and assayed the distribution types. Finally, in neuroligin mutants, during an early phase of synapse assembly. This interaction is crucial for the proper assembly of active zones, and, potentially, defines the adequate amount of release sites. On the other hand, fly Syd-1 interacts with Neurexin David OWALD did his doctoral thesis in Stephan and, via Neuroligin, regulates incorpo- Sigrist’s department, Neuroplasticity group, European ration of glutamate receptor subtypes. Neuroscience Institute Göttingen (ENI-G). His doctoral Stability of Syd-1 clusters, however, ap- thesis and oral defense was rated ‘summa cum laude’ pears to be dependent on postsynaptic by a team of internal and external reviewers. He was Neuroligin, constituting a bidirectional awarded the Otto-Creutzfeldt PhD Award in 2013. He signalling pathway. Later, development defended his PhD thesis in April 2010. of the release sites is marked by incor- poration of BRP, which is needed for University of Oxford calcium channel clustering, synaptic Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour vesicle recruitment and coordination Tinsley Building, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TA of release sites.

10 NEUROSCIENCE Science Spotlight2014

References 1. Owald, D., & Sigrist, S. J. (2009). Assembling the presynaptic active zone. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 19: 311–318. 2. Haucke, V., Neher, E., & Sigrist, S. J. (2011). Protein scaffolds in the coupling of synaptic exocytosis and endocytosis. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 12: 127–138. 3. Zhai, R. G., & Bellen, H. J. (2004). The Architecture of the Active Zone in the Presynaptic Nerve Terminal. Physiology, 19: 262-270. 4. Waddell, S., & Quinn, W. G. (2001). Flies, Genes, and Learning. Annu. Rev. Neurosci., 24: 1283–309 5. Margeta, M.A., Shen, K., Grill, B. (2008). Building a synapse: lessons on synaptic specificity and presynaptic assembly from the nematode C. elegans. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 18: 69–76. 6. Collins, C. A., & DiAntonio, A. (2007). Synaptic development: insights from Drosophila. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 17: 35–42. 7. Wagh, D. A., Rasse, T. M., Asan, E., Hofbauer, A., Schwenkert, I., Dürrbeck, H., et al. (2006). Bruchpilot, a Protein with Homology to ELKS/CAST, Is Required for Structural Integrity and Function of Synaptic Active Zones in Drosophila. Neuron, 49: 833–844. 8. Kittel, R. J., Wichmann, C., Rasse, T. M., Fouquet, W., Schmidt, M., Schmid, A., et al. (2006). Bruchpilot promotes active zone assembly, Ca2+ channel clustering, and vesicle release. Science, 312: 1051–1054. 9. Fouquet, W., Owald, D., Wichmann, C., Mertel, S., Depner, H., Dyba, M., et al. (2009). Maturation of active zone assembly by Drosophila Bruchpilot. The Journal of Cell Biology, 186: 129–145. 10. Rasse, T. M., Fouquet, W., Schmid, A., Kittel, R. J., Mertel, S., Sigrist, C. B., et al. (2005). Glutamate receptor dynamics organizing synapse formation in vivo. Nature Neuroscience, 8: 898-905. 11. Andlauer, T. F. M., & Sigrist, S. J. (2012). In Vivo Imaging of the Drosophila Larval Neuromuscular Junction. Cold Spring Harb Protoc. 4: 481-9. 12. Kaufmann, N., DeProto, J., Ranjan, R., Wan, H., Van Vactor, D. (2002). Drosophila liprin-alpha and the receptor phosphatase Dlar control synapse morphogenesis. Neuron, 34: 27-38. 13. Hallermann, S., Kittel, R. J., Wichmann, C., Weyhersmüller, A., Fouquet, W., Mertel, S., et al. (2010). Naked dense bodies provoke depression. The Journal of Neuroscience, 30: 14340–14345. 14. Matkovic, T., Siebert, M., Knoche, E., Depner, H., Mertel, S., Owald, D., et al. (2013). The Bruchpilot cytomatrix determines the size of the readily releasable pool of synaptic vesicles. The Journal of Cell Biology, 202: 667-683. 15. Zhen, M., & Jin, Y. (1999). The liprin protein SYD-2 regulates the differentiation of presynaptic termini in C. elegans. Nature, 401: 371–375. 16. Schmidt, M. (2006), PhD thesis, University of Gottingen 17. Dai, Y., Taru, H., Deken, S. L., Grill, B., Ackley, B., Nonet, M. L., & Jin, Y. (2006). SYD-2 Liprin-α organizes presynaptic active zone formation through ELKS. Nature Neuroscience, 9: 1479–1487. 18. Patel, M. R., Lehrman, E. K., Poon, V. Y., Crump, J. G., Zhen, M., Bargmann, C. I., & Shen, K. (2006). Hierarchical assembly of presynaptic components in defined C. elegans synapses. Nature Neuroscience, 9: 1488–1498. 19. Owald, D., Fouquet, W., Schmidt, M., Wichmann, C., Mertel, S., Depner, H., et al. (2010). A Syd-1 homologue regulates pre- and postsynaptic maturation in Drosophila. The Journal of Cell Biology, 188: 565–579. 20. Banovic, D., Khorramshahi, O., Owald, D., Wichmann, C., Riedt, T., Fouquet, W., et al. (2010). Drosophila neuroligin 1 promotes growth and postsynaptic differentiation at glutamatergic neuromuscular junctions. Neuron, 66: 724–738. 21. Li, J., Ashley, J., Budnik, V., & Bhat, M. A. (2007). Crucial role of Drosophila neurexin in proper active zone apposition to postsynaptic densities, synaptic growth, and synaptic transmission. Neuron, 55: 741–755. 22. Owald, D., Khorramshahi, O., Gupta, V. K., Banovic, D., Depner, H., Fouquet, W., et al. (2012). Cooperation of Syd-1 with Neurexin synchronizes pre- with postsynaptic assembly. Nature Neuroscience, 15: 1219-26. 23. Holbrook, S., Finley, J. K., Lyons, E. L., & Herman, T. G. (2012). Loss of syd-1 from R7 Neurons Disrupts Two Distinct Phases of Presynaptic Development. The Journal of Neuroscience, 32: 18101-11. 24. Wentzel, C., Sommer, J. E., Nair, R., Stiefvater, A., Sibarita, J.-B., & Scheiffele, P. (2013). mSYD1A, a Mammalian Synapse-Defective-1 Protein, Regulates Synaptogenic Signaling and Vesicle Docking. Neuron, 78: 1012–1023.

NEUROSCIENCE 11 Science2014 Spotlight The small axe hurls down the big trees by Hope Agbemenyah

Abstract deposited as amyloid plaques (extra- Gene expression profile, learning and Dementia is becoming a concern with cellular) and neurofibrillary tangles brain associated miRNAs increasing global aging population. (intracellular) respectively (Hardy and Learning is mediated to a very large ex- The need for effective therapeutic Allsop, 1991; Walsh and Selkoe, 2004; tent by de-novo expression of protein strategies to combat it, as aging is most Cole and Vassar, 2008). Assessment to enable persistent coding of informa- definite risk factor for Alzheimer’s di- of these lesions are however largely tion to be learnt. Although it is quite sease (AD) the most prevalent form of possible posthumously thereby neces- well understood that these mecha- dementia, requires a detail understan- sitating the search for biomarkers that nisms are key in part for memory for- ding of the molecular pathways alte- could be evaluated in real time either mation, it remains to be understood in red. microRNAs are pre-eminent in from CSF sampling or measured pos- depth how it is largely regulated. One posttranscriptional regulation of gene sibly from other body fluid that can be mode of gene-expression-regulation expression (mRNA regulation) and collected from patients inflicting the that remained largely unexplored in have been implicated in a number of minimum damage. In view of this, any the field of neurosciences is regula- conditions including cancers and cog- effective indicator and target should tion of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their nitive function. In this review, we shed aim at pre-clinical changes and possi- impact on memory formation and neu- light on the microRNA-34c (miR-34c), bly targeting these modifications. rodegenerative diseases. miRNAs are its role and impact on AD and how it products of RNA hairpins processed by could serve as a key regulator that ne- It is becoming evidently clear that a endoribonucleases (Dicer and Drosha) gatively affects memory formation. latent period precedes pathophysio- to mature miRNA (Krol et al., 2010). logical changes that are seen in AD The mature miRNA is the loaded into Introduction and other neurodegenerative diseases. the RNA induced silencing complex Aging is characterized by a decline With age as a major risk factor for AD (RISC) which partially or impartially in daily activity not only restricted to therefore dementia, differential gene anneal with complementary sites in muscles but also brain function. How- expression has been shown to precede the 3’-untranslated region of their tar- ever, one has to dissociate normal phenotypic changes (Berthold et al., get mRNAs resulting in inhibition ex- cognitive decline from diseased state 2008). In addition, deregulated gene pression of gene expression (He and in which memory formation is largely expression has been observed in aging Hannon, 2004). It is not surprising that impaired as seen in situation like neu- and brain of animal models (Lu et al, it was shown that miRNAs expression rodegenerative disease like Parkinson’s 2004; Berchtold et al, 2008; Selwood of the brain showed the highest profile disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) et al, 2009; Cao et al, 2010; Peleg et of tissue specific miRNAs (Babak et al., and Huntington’s disease. AD was deal, 2010; Ray and Zhang, 2010). Un- 2004; Sempere et al., 2004; Schonrock scribed over a century and remains fortunately, effective therapeutic regi- et al., 2010). A miRNA does not only largely unresolved due to lack of in- ments to treat or stop the disease upon titrate a single mRNA instead it is able depth understanding of the mecha- inception are lacking in part due to to regulate a number of them through nisms underlying the disease. It is now the paucity in the understanding of the imperfect complementarity. Therefore the focus of attention of lot of labora- pathomechanism underlying the dis- deregulation of a single or few miRNA tories and remains the most prevalent ease. A key element in memory cod- could have ripple effects that are very form of dementia. In 2010, about 36 ing is gene expression and regulated at devastating. million people were estimated to suf- different levels including posttranscrip- fering from dementia globally (http:// tional regulation by miRNAs, and any miRNAs and the brain www.alz.co.uk/research/statistics). insult to this mode of regulation can To profile specifically miRNAs whose Clinically, the definitive diagnostic negatively impact on memory forma- functions are key to memory formation hallmarks of the disease are aggregates tion eventually leading to dementia. and are expressed in the hippocampus of Amyloid precursor proteins (APP) We therefore focused on miRNAs and – whose aberrant expression in AD and subunits and hyperphosphorylated tau deregulated transcriptome plasticity. with aging could impact negatively on

12 NEUROSCIENCE Science Spotlight2014

cognitive performance – we under- microcannulae in young mice (3-4 voilis and Agbemenyah et al., 2011). took a deep sequencing, a method months old) and upon recovery post- Again APPPS1-21 mice that received that allows for precise sequencing and surgery, we administered synthetic scrambled oligonucleotide showed quantification of small RNAs with a miR-34c and subjected the mice to no cognitive improvement compared wide coverage (Metzker 2010). In our associative learning paradigm. Inter- to wild type that also received scram- analysis, we observed that nearly 488 estingly, mimicking increased levels of bled oligonucleotides further confir- miRNAs associated with brain function miR-34c led to impaired memory for- ming the negative impact of miR-34c that were expressed specifically by the mation in wildtype mice that received on cognitive function. Furthermore, we hippocampus (a site very important in miR-34c compared to their littermates employed aged mice and showed that memory formation and largely affected that received scrambled oligonucleo- again inhibition of miR-34c indeed in AD) compared to other brain re- tide. Molecularly, we observed that im- has a beneficial effect on learning and gions (Zovoilis and Agbemenyah et al., paired memory formation was in part memory in both aging and APPPS1-21 2011). We further analyzed by com- due to the effect of miR-34c on Sirt1 as mouse models (Zovoilis and Agbemen- paring our data with miRNAoame data it led decreased levels of Sirt1 in mice yah et al., 2011). published earlier from whole brain that received miR-34c compared to (Chiang et al., 2010) and narrowed vehicle group. down to 12 miRNAs that were enriched So far we have in the hippocampus. To further gain in- shown that sight into the function of these miRNAs miR-34c aber- we compared these hippocampus- rant expression enriched miRNAs with gene ontology of miR-34c is data of hippocampus-dependent-asso- detrimental ciated learning regulated (Peleg et al., and negative- 2010) and observed that miRNA-34c ly impact on (miR-34c) was the highest of the all the memory. miRNAs that targets learning depen- ded genes suggesting a negative effect To address the on these genes and therefore possible question whe- negative regulator of memory associ- ther miR-34c ated genes. This finding was further could be tar- corroborated with similar increased get to en- levels of miR-34c was also observed in hance memory aged mice, APPPS1-21 mouse (Radde functions we et al., 2007) model of AD and human employed AD patients. APPPS1-21 mouse model, We have thus far showed that miR-34c which we showed to have increased Fig. 1: Targeting miR-34c seed rescues is increased in aging, mouse models levels of miR-34c expression com- learning impairment in mouse model for AD. of AD and human AD patients and pared to wildtype and a third group of (A) Experimental design. (B) Impaired learning we then asked if deregulated levels APPPS1 mice that received scrambled of 12- month-old APPPS1-21 mice (*P=0.001) of miR-34c could be detrimental for oligonucleotide. Interestingly, inhibi- is partially rescued after inhibition of the miR- memory formation. To test this hypo- tion of miR-34c in APPPS1-21 mice 34c activity (*P=0.04; n=7–8/group). (C) SIRT1 thesis whether increased levels of using the antisense blocker of miR-34c protein (left) and mRNA levels (left) in miR34 miR-34c negatively impact on memo- ameliorated cognitive deficit observed seed inhibitor-treated mice (*P<0.05; n = 8). ry formation, we surgically implanted (Fig 1, reproduced from article Zo- Error bars indicate s.e.m.

NEUROSCIENCE 13 Science2014 Spotlight

Conclusion Inhibition of miR-34c has led to im- marker for the onset of cognitive dis- Thus we have used varied in-silico provement in the learning abilities of turbances linked to AD and indicate analysis backed by experimental evi- APPPS1-21 mice and aged mice on that targeting miR-34c could be a suit- dence to show that miR-34c nega- cognitive tasks. In line with this, tar- able therapy. tively impact on memory functions by geting miR-34 seed rescues learning regulation genes essential for memory ability in these mouse models. Our formation as summarized in figure 2. data suggest that miR-34c could be a

Hope AGBEMENYAH did his doctoral thesis in André Fischer’s department, Laboratory for Aging and Cognitive Diseases, European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen (ENI-G). He was awarded the Inge and Fritz Kleekamm Research Price of the Alzheimer Founda- tion in 2012. He defended his PhD thesis in November 2012.

European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen (ENI-G), Fig. 2: Effect of miR-34c on its targets under STED Microscopy of Synaptic Functions physiological conditions and upon insults Grisebachstr. 5, 37077 Göttingen with increased expression of miR-34c leading to inhibition of target expression.

References 1. Babak, T., Zhang, W., Morris, Q., Blencowe, B. J., and Hughes, T. R. (2004). Probing microR- NAs with microarrays: tissue specificity and functional infer- ence. RNA 10, 1813–1819. doi: 10.1261/rna.7119904 2. Berchtold NC, Cribbs DH., Coleman PD., Rogers J, Head E, Kim R, Beach T, Miller C, Troncoso J , Trojanowski JQ., Zielke RH, and Cotman CW. (2008). Gene expression changes in the course of normal brain aging are sexually dimorphic. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Oct 7;105(40):15605-10. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0806883105. Epub 2008 Oct 1. 3. Cole, S. L., and Vassar, R. (2008). The role of amyloid precursor protein processing by BACE1, the beta-secretase, in Alzheimer disease pathophysiology. J. Biol. Chem. 283, 29621–29625. doi: 10.1074/jbc.R800015200 4. Hardy, J., and Allsop, D. (1991). Amyloid deposition as the central event in the aetiology of Alzheimer’s disease. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 12, 383–388. doi: 10.1016/0165-6147(91)90609-V 5. Metzker ML (2010) Sequencing technologies – the next generation. Nat Rev Genet 11: 31–46 6. Peleg S, Sananbenesi F, Zovoilis A, Burkhardt S, Bahari-Javan S, Agis-Balboa RC, Cota P, Wittnam JL, Gogol-Doering A, Opitz L, Salinas- Riester G, Dettenhofer M, Kang H, Farinelli L, Chen W, Fischer A. (2010) Altered histone acetylation is associated with age-dependent memory impairment in mice Science. 7;328(5979):753-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1186088. 7. Radde R, Bolmont T, Kaeser SA, Coomaraswamy J, Lindau D, Stoltze L, Calhoun ME, Jäggi F, Wolburg H, Gengler S, Haass C, Ghetti B Czech C, Hölscher C, Mathews PM, Jucker M. (2006) Aβ42-driven cerebral amyloidosis in transgenic mice reveals early and robust pathology EMBO Rep. 2006 September; 7(9): 940–946. doi: 10.1038/sj.embor.7400784 8. Sempere, L. F., Freemantle, S., Pitha- Rowe, I., Moss, E., Dmitrovsky, E., and Ambros, V. (2004). Expression profiling of mammalian microRNAs uncovers a subset of brain-expressed microRNAs with possible roles in murine and human neuronal differentiation. Genome Biol. 5: 9. Schonrock, N., Ke, Y. D., Humphreys, D., Staufenbiel, M., Ittner, L. M., Preiss, T., et al. (2010). Neuronal microRNA deregulation in response to Alzheimer’s disease amyloid-beta. PLoS ONE 5:e11070. doi: 10.1371/journal. pone.0011070 10. Walsh, D. M., and Selkoe, D. J. (2004). Deciphering the molecular basis of memory failure in Alzheimer’s disease. Neuron 44, 181–193. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron. 2004.09.010 11. Zovoilis A, Agbemenyah HY, Agis-Balboa RC, Stilling RM, Edbauer D, Rao P, Farinelli L, Delalle I, Schmitt A, Falkai P, Bahari-Javan S, Burkhardt S, Sanabenesi F, Fischer A (2011) microRNA-34c is a novel target to treat dementias. EMBO J 30: 4299–4308

14 NEUROSCIENCE StudentsCurrent Master’s class 2012/13

Tamer Abdelaal Egypt, MSc from Al Diego Alejandro Giraldo Sánchez Pratibha Narayanan India, BSc from Azhar University of Cairo, Egypt Colombia, BSc from Universidad de Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi Uni- los Andes, Bogota, Colombia versity, India Andrea Adden Germany, BSc from Georg August University Göttingen, Sindhuja Gowrisankaran India, BTech Ahmad Nazzal Jordan, BSc from Uni- Germany from SASTRA University, India versity of Jordan, Jordan

Erika Avendaño Guzmán Mexico, BSc Sabitha Joseph Germany, BSc from Sneha Shashidhara India, BSc from from Universidad Nacional Autónoma Georg August University Göttingen, Fergusson College, University of Pune, de México, Mexico Germany India

Mariana Cerdeira Brazil, BSc from Sarah Lam Canada, BSc from Univer- Julia Sondermann Germany, BSc from Universidade Federal Fluminense, sity of Toronto, Canada Georg August University Göttingen, Brazil Germany Amr Maamoun Syria, MD from Da- Chi Chen P.R. China, BSc from Tsing- mascus University, Syria Aarti Swaminathan India, BTech from hua University, China Mepco Schlenk Engineering College / Florentin Masurat Germany, BSc from Anna University Chennai, India Guergana Ivanova Dontcheva Bul- Georg August University Göttingen, garia/Canada, BSc from University of Germany King Faisal Yambire Ghana, BSc from British Columbia, Canada University of Ghana, Ghana Sharlen Yared Moore Corona Mexico, Alina Gellerer Germany, BSc from BSc from Universidad Nacional Au- Philipps University Marburg, Germany tónoma de México, Mexico

Laura Geurts Netherlands, BSc from University College Utrecht, Nether- lands

Applications 2012 In the year 2012, the Neuroscience program received 256 applications from 48 countries. Germany 33 other Western Europe 15 Eastern Europe 16 North America 5 Central/South America 15 North Africa 16 Central/South Africa 23 Asia / Near East 53 Central Asia / Far East 80

NEUROSCIENCE 15 StudentsCurrent Master’s class 2013/14

Monika Chanu Chongtham India, MSc Md. Rezaul Islam Bangladesh, MSc Rafael Rinaldi Ferreira Brazil, BSc from from Sheffield Institute of Translational from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh State University of Maringá, Brazil Neuroscience, UK Sebastian Jähne Germany, BSc from Sura Saleh Syria, BSc from Damascus Alexander Dieter Germany, BSc from University College Dublin, Ireland University, Syria Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a.M., Germany Lina María Jaime Tobón Colombia, Francesca Schönsberg Italy, BSc from BSc from Universidad de Los Andes, University of Padua, Italy Carlos J. Duque Afonso Spain, BSc Colombia from Autonomous University of Paromita Sen Singapore, BSc from Barcelona, Spain Thomas Offner Germany, BSc from Carleton College, Northfield Minne- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlan- sota, USA Rajaram Ezhilarasan India, BSc from gen-Nürnberg, Germany National University of Singapore, Michael Siebrecht Germany, BSc from Singapore Özge Demet Özçete Turkey, BSc from Georg August University Göttingen, Bogazici University Istanbul, Turkey Germany Michael Feyerabend Germany, BSc from University of Cologne, Germany Foteini Paraskevopoulou Greece, BSc Sebastian Sydlik Germany, BSc from from National and Kapodistrian Uni- Maastricht University, The Netherlands Oli Abate Fulas Ethiopia, MD from versity of Athens, Greece Hawassa University College of Medi- cine and Health Sciences, Ethiopia Luis Giordano Ramos Traslosheros López Mexico, BSc from Universidad Georg Hafner Austria, BSc from Uni- Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico versity of Salzburg, Austria

Applications 2013 In the year 2013, the Neuroscience program received 287 applications from 49 countries. Germany 44 other Western Europe 29 Eastern Europe 17 North America 9 Central/South America 14 North Africa 15 Central/South Africa 14 Asia / Near East 30 Central Asia / Far East 114 Australia 1

16 NEUROSCIENCE StudentsNew PhD projects started in 2012

Bekir Altaş Ulrike Leipscher Nidhi Subhashini Function of WWP Sub- Structural determinants Axon-axon and axon-glia family of E3 Ubiquitin and functional correlates signaling during peri- Ligases in Neurotransmis- of current kinetics in Kv pheral nerve assembly sion and Dendrite Devel- 10 channels Till Marquardt, Judith opment Luis Pardo, Oliver Schlüter, Stegmüller, André Fischer Nils Brose, Judith Bert de Groot Stegmüller, Dirk Görlich

Vinita Bharat Ricardo Merino Adam Tomczak Molecular mechanisms of Study of neural network Influence of Eag1 voltage dense core vesicle versus dynamics with optoge- sensor on cell prolifera- synaptic vesicle exocyto- netic tools in hippocam- tion sis in neurons pal slices Luis Pardo, Silvio Rizzoli, Camin Dean, Nils Brose, Fred Wolf, Walter Stühmer, Tobias Moser Reinhard Jahn Andreas Neef

Hugo Cruces Solís Markus Stahlberg Siv Vingill Corticofugal modulation Nanoscale probing of sin- Analysis of FBX07 in of activity-dependent gle synapse function and neurons plasticity plasticity Judith Stegmüller, Thomas Klaus-Armin Nave, Tobias Camin Dean, Stefan Hell, Bayer, Tiago Outeiro Moser, Stefan Treue Detlev Schild

Zohreh Farsi Mechanisms of neurotransmitter uptake into synaptic vesicles Reinhard Jahn, Silvio Rizzoli, Tobias Moser

NEUROSCIENCE 17 StudentsNew PhD projects started in 2013

Olga Babaev Amr Maamoun Julia Sondermann Behavioral and molecular Suppressive aspects of Identification and characterization of attentional modulation of characterization of protein NI -2 -/- mice visual processing complexes involved in Nils Brose, Camin Dean, Stefan Treue, Melanie different pain states in Hannelore Ehrenreich Wilke, Suresh Krishna vertebrates Manuela Schmidt, Martin Göpfert, Henning Urlaub

Tanvi Butola Ramanathan Narayanan Role of Piccolo in high Role of chromatin re- Man Ho Wong frequency signalling at modeling BAF complex Pathway specific analysis central auditory synapses in cortical development of synaptic changes in Tobias Moser, Erwin Jochen Staiger, André ocular dominance Neher, Thomas Dresbach Fischer, Klaus-Armin Nave plasticity Oliver Schlüter, Tobias Moser, Siegrid Löwel Guergana Dontcheva Ahmad Nazzal The role of the E3 ubi- Neural basis of spatial quitin ligase FBX07 in neglect King Faisal Yambire the forebrain Melanie Wilke, Mathias The Role of Lyosome- Judith Stegmüller, Bähr, Tobias Moser Peroxisome-Mitochondria Anastassia Stoykova, Functional Network in Nils Brose Neurodegeneration Ira Milosevic, André Fischer, Klaus-Armin Nave Sabitha Joseph Dennis Nestvogel Role of the Parkinonism- A Comprehensive Elec- associated E3 Ligase trophysiological Analysis FBX07 in Myelination of the Munc13 / CAPS De- Judith Stegmüller, Klaus- pendent Vesicle Priming Armin Nave, Walter Machinery Paulus Nils Brose, Erwin Neher, Reinhard Jahn

Mohammad Hossein Julio Santos Viotti Khani Role of the Novel Synap- Mechanisms of Color tic-Vesicle Protein Mover Processing in the Retina in Calcium-Secretion Tim Gollisch, Tobias Coupling Moser, Siegrid Löwel Thomas Dresbach, Tobias Moser, Michael Müller

18 NEUROSCIENCE StudentsGraduated The Doctors of 2012

Hope Yao Agbemenyah Aniket Ghosh Sünke Mortensen Assessment of Epigenetic Genome-wide RNAi Modulation of synap- profile in Alzheimer’s screeening reveals glial tic transmission by the disease phosphoethanolamine- voltage-gated potassium André Fischer, ceramide is critical for channel Klaus-Armin Nave, axonal ensheathment Walter Stühmer, Judith Stegmüller Mikael Simons, Herbert Erwin Neher, Jäckle, Stefan Eimer Anastassia Stoykova

Alonso Barrantes Freer Sadim Jawhar Mayur Vadhvani Functional properties of The 5XFAD mouse model: The role of E3 ubiquitin the plasma membrane of a tool for genetic modula- ligase FBXO31-SCF in human glioma initiating tion of Alzheimer’s disease neuronal cells pathology Judith Stegmüller, Walter Stühmer, Tobias Thomas Bayer, André Klaus-Armin Nave, Moser, Till Marquardt Fischer, Fred Wouters Till Marquardt

Pitchaiah Cherukuri Cemil Kerimoglu Nora Wender Molecular correlates of Role of Histone Methy- Cellular function and spinal motor neuron lation in Cognition and toxicity of the Parkinson’s functional specification Effects of Different Dura- disease-related genes and plasticity tions of Environmental alpha-synuclein and catp- Till Marquardt, Enrichment on Learning 6 in C. elegans Klaus-Armin Nave, and Memory Stefan Eimer, Reinhard Ernst Wimmer André Fischer, Walter Jahn, Andreas Wodarz Stühmer, Wolfgang Fischle

Ahmed El Hady Natalia Manrique Hoyos Studies of cultured neu- Neurodegeneration in ronal networks using light toxin-mediated demyeli- activated ion channels and nating animal models of pumps Multiple Sclerosis Fred Wolf, Walter Stühmer, Mikael Simons, Wolfgang Theo Geisel Brück, Till Marquardt

NEUROSCIENCE 19 StudentsGraduated The Doctors of 2013

Derya Akad Zhizi Jing Roman Stilling The Role of PSD-95 and Sound Encoding in the The role of Kat2a during Kinase Interactions in Mouse Cochlea: memory formation and Synaptic Transmission Molecular Physiology and chromatin plasticity in Oliver Schlüter, Nils Brose, Optogenetic Stimulation the aging murine hippo- Till Marquardt Tobias Moser, Martin campus Göpfert, Fred Wolf André Fischer, André Fiala, Judith Stegmüller

Jonas Barth Alejandro Mendoza Benjamin Wilhelm Olfactory Perception and Schulz Stoichiometric Biology Physiology in Drosophila The role of the presyn- of the Synapse melanogaster aptic scaffold protein Silvio Rizzoli, Erwin André Fiala, Andreas Bassoon in synaptic trans- Neher, Michael Hörner Wodarz, André Fischer mission at the mouse endbulb of Held synapse Tobias Moser, Erwin Neher, Reinhard Jahn

Juan Daniel Flórez Chor Hoon Poh Aaron Wong Weidinger The role of innervation Confocal Imaging of Modeling the origins of during mouse embryonic Calcium Signal and spatial and temporal vari- myogenesis: what Exocytosis at Individual ability in visual cortical molecular genetics tells Hair Cell Synapses representations Till Marquardt, Klaus- Tobias Moser, Nils Brose, Fred Wolf, Detlev Schild, Armin Nave, Tomas Pieler Erwin Neher Stefan Treue

Meike Schweisfurth Cordelia Imig The somatosensory sys- Molecular and Morpho- tem: Exploration of digit logical Correlates of Syn- somatotopy and feature- aptic Vesicle Priming based attention Nils Brose, Reinhard Jahn, Jens Frahm, Stefan Treue, Stefan Eimer Christiane Thiel / Renate Schweizer

20 NEUROSCIENCE AlumniRegional Work- Life Balance in Cologne by Marija Herholz

Some time ago I had a visit from a are for people moving to or away from work. There is quite a number of lea- friend of mine from the Göttingen Mo- Germany. But when I sum all pros and ding research institutions; the scientific lecular Biology program, Adema Ribic. cons, I still think staying in Germany is community is extremely friendly and We reminisced about the old days, the the right choice, given all the opportu- also well connected. There are a lot of good and the tough of the PhD student nities one has to learn and develop as young and foreign PIs, so the overall times. When I think about the time I a scientist. atmosphere is very dynamic and en- graduated in 2009, I honestly had no ergetic. In addition, as a female scien- idea what I wanted to do next. Eight I now work at the University of Colo- tist, I really like that there is a special years ago when I first moved to Ger- gne. I work in the lab that studies the attention to making a life of scientists many, I thought I had it all planned and figured out. I had a fully worked out five-year plan, and not only to have the “interview answer” ready, but I really believed in it. I was to finish my doctorate, win one of the prestigious scholarships, and continue doing first- class science in a great place and look for a group leader position. But then I realized it’s really true when people say that life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. I met so many wonderful people including my future husband, and that shifted my focus. I decided to slow down the pace for a while. I wished to have a good work-life balance and stubborn and spoiled that I am, I wanted to have it right away. influence of mitochondria on aging. with families much easier. Honestly, What drew me to this lab is how di- researchers are very well taken care of I knew I wanted to stay in science; there verse it is: we use two model systems, here, and we can focus 100% of our was no question about that. But I also C. elegans (which, of course, I am fa- attention to research. wanted to be in a place where I could miliar with from my projects in Göt- keep up with my “off-work” life. So I tingen) and mouse. The backgrounds Life in Cologne is quite different from started looking for a postdoc position from the people in the lab range from that in Göttingen. I remember how somewhere in Germany. There were bioinformatics to biochemistry. The se- disoriented I felt for the first couple of many reasons why I wanted to stay minar discussions are always heated months, and how even the traffic and here: for one, the openness and colla- and I’ve learnt a lot since I came here. honking cars freaked me out. But I got borative spirit of the scientific commu- I find ageing research particularly ex- used to it quite fast. Though people nity; the working conditions, including citing because of its interdisciplinarity may argue how beautiful Cologne is, paid vacation days and social protec- and the fact that it can take you in any nobody can deny that it is also a dyna- tion; the health insurance system. My direction. Plus, I can finally explain to mic and vibrant city, with the ability to husband and my friends were also my mom what it is that I do without her energize, live in a cosmopolitan spirit, here. The biggest drawback was that I staring blank at me. colorful and diverse. How many cities wasn’t eligible to apply for almost any do you know that would refresh you postdoctoral grant since most of them Cologne University is a great place to and recharge your batteries if you just

NEUROSCIENCE 21 AlumniRegional

“go down to the river”? Well, Cologne is one of them. Marija HERHOLZ did her doctoral thesis in Stefan Eimer’s department at the European Being here for three years now, I still Neuroscience Institute Göttingen (ENI-G). She miss Göttingen. I miss the times, the defended her PhD thesis in November 2009. recklessness, I miss my support group, I miss the endless nights in our dorm Cluster of Excellence, Cellular Stress Responses in Geiststraße. And I don’t know a sin- in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD) gle person that doesn’t. But I love my at the Institute for Genetics life here in Cologne too. I found what Zülpicher Str.47a, 50674 Köln I wanted, a perfect work-life balance and I am so happy with it.

Postdoc in Göttingen by Andrew Woehler

Usually alumni articles are written their batch-mates. Second, and possib- grad life is somewhat different, as my with two things in mind. First, for for- ly more important, they serve to inform time in Göttingen has lasted a little mer IMPRS members that may have the current batches of IMPRS studen- longer than I had originally expected. lost contact after parting ways at the ts about all the new experiences that Gänseliesel, they provide an account await them upon graduating and lea- After finishing my PhD work in the In- of the whereabouts and goings-on of ving Göttingen. This account of post- stitute of Neuro- and Sensory Physio- logy in the University Medical Center, where I worked on the development of spectral imaging methods to investigate serotonin receptor dimerization, I followed the words of wisdom passed down through the ages by many wise mentors to “move and change topics”. I moved, up the hill to the Department of Membrane Biophysics at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry and began working on the development and application of optical methods to study signaling pathways downstream of GPCRs. My current work is focused on using FRET in combination with optical methods for molecular counting to quantify multiple interdependent signaling processes simultaneously. Most

22 NEUROSCIENCE AlumniRegional

recently I have begun to apply these peers to always have a sounding board pragmatic with my time and to take methods to Wnt/Frizzled signaling for new ideas and plenty of sources of into account the possible return on in- pathways and aim to continue this line invaluable feedback. vestment before heading down a path of investigation to quantify the charac- based on pure and wishful curiosity. teristics of the processes responsible Now this new independence hasn’t Past alumni that have left academia to for neurite outgrowth and guidance. come without a price. While I still pursue careers in industry have written This will allow us to better understand enjoy working at the bench and that their success after the transition the information processing and emer- microscope and still perform the vast has required them to diversify their gent decision-making that occurs in majority of my own experiments, my skill set, ‘wear many hats’, and hone the molecular networks found in these day to day responsibilities are more their abilities to multitask and meet remote subcellular regions. varied than they were during my PhD tight deadlines. I am finding that, at and beginning of the postdoc. I not least in these respects, continuing in I was surprised to find that the decisi- only need to think about individual ex- academia after the PhD is no different. on to stay in Göttingen after my PhD periments or take care of developing a For me, these new challenges have, at came so easily. After the initial honey- cohesive story but also I need to mana- times, been stressful but also refreshing moon experience of moving to a small ge my own budget and resources, stay and very rewarding. So to those still town from one of the larger cities in on top of deadlines, always be on the trudging along towards the end of their the US, Göttingen did quickly begin to lookout for more sources of funding, PhDs, still really interested in your feel a bit too small, bit too quiet, and and more recently, recruit and mana- work but craving some change in your much too cold. This discontent even- ge people to contribute to my work. So day to day routine, if you are open to tually gave way though, to the comfort although I am still able to feel the thrill more responsibility, be patient, change that comes with such a safe, conveni- and excitement of doing experiments, will happen. ent, and scientifically stimulating envi- I have found more and more, that at ronment. In addition to the new found times I need to step back and questi- appreciation for an uncomplicated on myself when feeling the impulse to lifestyle, personal friendships made the try new lines of investigation or to es- thought of leaving even less appealing. tablish new methods that may appear Scientifically, I had the incredible for- exciting. With the additional responsi- tune of being offered the opportunity bilities has come the need to be more to continue my work within the Center for Molecular Physiology of the Brain (CMPB) in Göttingen under the guidance of Prof. Erwin Neher. Because he was transitioning to Emeritus Director of the department, the role he assumed Andrew Woehler did his doctoral thesis in was more of a mentor than supervi- Erwin Neher’s department, Max Planck Institute for sor. Being a member of the CMPB also Biophysical Chemistry, Dept. Membrane Biophysics. put me in direct contact with many of He defended his PhD thesis in April 2010. the other PIs in Göttingen working in related fields. This new position affor- Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry ded me enough independence to de- Department of Membrane Biophysics velop my own ideas, design my own Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen projects, and establish my own colla- borations, all while maintaining close enough contact with a large network of

NEUROSCIENCE 23 AlumniRegional The German adventure continues… by Shahaf Peleg

One of the beautiful things about Göt- In accomplishing these goals, I hope to mice in response to memory challen- tingen is the constant fast turnover of create and implement major improve- ge, leading to an impaired memory for- its student population on a yearly ba- ments for each person’s quality of life’. mation. More specifically, reduced hi- sis. As I left the program already three stone acetylation of a lysine residue in years ago, perhaps the best thing to do After the ‘master’ year, I started my older mice has probably led to genome is to introduce myself first just as Mi- PhD at a lab of a young group leader wide deficiency to increase various chael and Steffen made us all do duri- (André Fischer, ENI) who just finished transcripts that are important for me- ng our first orientation week. his postdoc in the US. The initial con- mory formation. This insight also led to cept of the project was that brain of a possibility to enhance their cognitive I applied to the program by acci- old organisms displayed major shift in ability. Looking back, I can happily say dently seeing an advertisement in my gene expression around the time they now that I achieved some of the goals university’s website. Excited by the pro- also displayed decreased cognitive which I (naively) had in my mind be- spect of returning to Germany (I have ability. These phenomena suggested fore becoming a neuroscientist. been in Bonn as a teenager, in student that transcriptional regulation might be exchange program), I quickly applied involved and may drive that process. So, Nächster Halt- Being addicted to to the Neuroscience program and after aging research but also realizing the half a year found myself coming with The beginning of my PhD project was benefits of ‘interdisciplinary scienti- two suitcases to a rainy city with fresh very intense as I was trying to figure fic’ environment I joined a chromatin forest smell and starting a new chapter out why middle-aged mice learn wor- lab in Munich (Andreas Ladurner lab) in my life. se than younger mice, which involved which is also interested in aging and spending hours in the underground behavior in the small Drosophila. After There were many interesting adjust- mice facility. By the end of my PhD, af- 2.5 years of postdocing I still enjoy it ments in the beginning – meeting ter 3 years of combining behavior and very much here, which implies I made many new people, each one with diffe- molecular approaches, I had a much a good choice! (Which is a good sign rent mentality, having a bicycle as your better idea of what’s going on in the I guess …) new best friend, learning German key older mice’ brain. The main result was essential words (ohne Zwiebel, keine that a specific chromatin marker is dys- Munich is very different from Göttin- Ahnung…) and of course - getting used regulated in the hippocampus of older gen. Even the Bavarian dialect is taking to the idea it is not smart to leave home time to get used to, compared with Gö’s without a rain coat EVEN when it is Hochdeutsch. The city is much lar- completely sunny outside. But natural- ger, and whereas Gö is dominated by ly we came here to do science. large percentage of students, Munich is mainly a business city…which makes One of the first things we had to do it very expensive to live here. There are upon entering the program was to many attractions here such as Bayern write the so-called scientific interest Munich soccer games, several muse- and goals. That’s partly what I wrote ums, castles, gardens and much more. back then: In addition, there are many lakes south …’my main interest is the aging pro- of Munich inviting for a swim in sum- cess of the brain, the decline of its mer while watching the snowcapped functions…my goal is to gain a broad Alps. perspective from different areas of the aging processes within the brain and But there is also science...! The scien- find ways to preserve its vitality, delay tific ‘world’ here is amazing. There are aging and in essence, cure its damage. two universities that belong to the ex-

24 NEUROSCIENCE AlumniRegional

cellence cluster, several Max Planck, many labs researching aging currently brating the end of my seventh year in Helmholtz Centers and a couple of lar- tend to work with at least two model Germany. It was one of the best deci- ge clinics. That means, if I wish to do organisms. Therefore I believe for me sions I have made in my life. It’s really almost any given experiment and use it is not a bad idea to gain some more incredible how a small internet post any kind of machine, it is quite easy experience in a new model organism. more than 7 years ago changed my to find a local suitable collaboration life so thoroughly... and I am confident partner. Indeed, I have physically done At the time of writing this I am cele- that my German adventure continues. experiments in 8 different labs so far.

The main project I have revolves with Shahaf PELEG did his doctoral thesis in André Fis- expending what I have done during my cher’s department, Laboratory for Aging and Cognitive PhD, namely to test the involvement Diseases, European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen of chromatin remodeling on the aging (ENI-G). He was awarded the Schilling Research Award process. Since mice seem to take for- for young researchers by the German Neuroscience ever to age, I switched to the smaller Society for his doctoral thesis in 2011. He defended his and faster aging fruit fly, Drosophila. PhD thesis in October 2010. Another nice thing about the flies is the ability to easily mess up their genome, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich knocking out specific genes and as- Department of Physiological Chemistry sess what happens to the chromatin is Adolf Butenandt Institute technically comparably easy. Actually, Butenandtstr. 5, 81377 Munich Science or medicine? Science and medicine! by Alonso Barrantes-Freer

My training as a general physician – in research I decided to apply to the cess of scientific production, however before I came to Göttingen back in Neuroscience program. I guess that I fascinating, is slow and has the inhe- 2007- was a very clinical one. I had a was an idealist. I thought that the tools rent uncertainty derived from scientific lot of interaction with patients and was that science could provide, would give approximation. exposed to differential diagnosis and me a greater understanding of many treatment across various medical dis- aspects of the CNS and beyond. Science turned out to be something ciplines in a very practical setting. On rather different from what I originally the other hand, most of the knowledge It was just later during my time as thought and my initial passion turned dealing with the basic underlying me- a PhD student that I realized that into some sort of a more mature affec- chanisms of disease at the cellular or science produces more questions than tion. It was difficult to decide how to molecular level was more or less re- answers. I also became conscious of proceed after my PhD since I wanted stricted to the content of textbooks and the complexity that accompanies the to continue doing research, but I also the hands-on experience was rather li- study of even the most reductionist started to look at my former medical mited. Nevertheless, I felt fascinated by systems and the delicate balance that background from a whole new per- the great mystery that the central ner- exists between the choice of a biolo- spective. I finally realized that medical vous system (CNS) represents and in gical model and its informative value. work and scientific research are just spite of my little practical experience Most importantly I learnt that the pro- two sides of the same coin. Therefore,

NEUROSCIENCE 25 AlumniRegional

I joined the Neuropathology Depart- gnosis by analyzing the histological, a satisfactory degree of confidence is ment of the University Medical Center biochemical and molecular changes in achieved. In neuropathology we need in Göttingen UMG as a medical resi- the brain, nerve or muscle. to work with the sample (normally dent and postdoc to continue explo- n=1) and the clinical information at ring and learning about the CNS. It is a very fascinating job and the study hand to make decisions that influence of a tissue sample in a clinical context therapeutic approaches and ultimate- When people ask me about my new bears a lot of similarities with scientific ly people´s lives. Also, basic science job, the scientific aspect of it is rather research: It requires thorough techni- problems can remain open for a lon- clear: We work with animal models, cal optimization, analytical thought, ger period of time, whereas in the clinical setting, the diagnostic challenges should be solved in benefit of the patient with the highest amount of confidence within a reasonable time frame. In practical terms this means a tighter schedule and fast “results”.

Fortunately, diagnosis relies on team work where the input of different spe- cialists and experiences (neurosur- geons, neurologists, neuroradiologists and of course neuropathologists) leads to a (in most cases) consensual decision about the better course of action for each individual patient. This is in particular a very rewarding aspect, since it requires an active interaction with colleagues of related disciplines. microscopy, molecular biology tech- a sound theoretical background and a niques, write papers, go to conferences good amount of experience. In basic I am very glad about my new position and so on. However, when they ask scientific questions however, one can and I think that I´ve got the best from me about life as a neuropathology re- repeat experiments, include more con- two not-so-different worlds. sident, I get the impression that people trols and try different approaches until somehow associate pathology with the study of the dead. Although part of my work does include performing autop- Alonso BARRANTES-FREER did his doc- sies, the major part of it deals with the toral thesis in Walter Stühmer’s department at the Max study of diseases of the central and pe- Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, dept. of ripheral nervous systems in the living. Molecular Biology of Neuronal Signals. He defended It might seem surprising, but very dis- his PhD thesis in April 2012 similar entities such as demyelinating, vascular, infectious or neoplastic di- University Medicine Göttingen seases might pose important diagnostic Dept. Neuropathology challenges for the treating physician. Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075 Göttingen Therefore the role of the neuropatho- logist is to aid in the differential dia-

26 NEUROSCIENCE OutsideAlumni Academia From PhD to scientific publishing by Natalia Manrique-Hoyos

After I finished my PhD in 2012, I de- departments not only involves mov- ties to come up with solutions that cided I wanted to expand my experi- ing to a new department but can also benefit all – and to offer a service that ence outside of the lab. I had always mean working at Springer offices in is valued by our authors and the scien- been interested in publishing and en- different countries, joining the teams tific community, and that also allows joyed the communication aspect of for international meetings as well as us to keep moving forward. science during my studies, so I started visiting clients, so international mobil- looking for a position where I could ity is a big component and one of my As I am working on short (3-month) use my scientific background while favorite aspects of working at Springer. projects, my everyday work changes working in media and communica- constantly and the topics vary enor- tion. In May 2013, I started working as Overall, digital media has transformed an International STM (Scientific Tech- scientific communication and pro- nical and Medical) Trainee at Springer mises to continue expanding and diver- Science+Business Media in Dordrecht, sifying the way in which information the Netherlands. Springer is one of the can be used and shared. I find it exci- leading STM publishers, and publishes ting and rewarding to be able to con- more than 2,000 journals yearly, with tribute to the development of services more than 6,000 new books being and products that facilitate the access launched in 2012 alone. My trainee- and use of scientific information. The ship will take two years: the first year dissemination of new findings has a consists of four 3-month-long rotations direct impact on the support that re- in different departments within the search receives from the government mously. I need to use data analysis, company (Editorial, Marketing, Finan- project management and communica- cial and Open Access). The purpose of tion skills to carry them out according this, similar to the lab rotations in our to deadlines and deliverables agreed Neuroscience Program, is to carry out on with my supervisors. Working in short projects according to the needs teams is a very important aspect at and interest of each department, while companies, so when you want to de- learning what the different teams and velop or implement an idea, you need colleagues do within the company. to involve other colleagues and obtain During the second year, I will develop management’s agreement to get the an interdisciplinary project making support your project requires. You can use of what I have learned. This pro- see how each team is a small part of gram allows me to obtain a broad vi- and funding agencies, and also serves a whole, and this allows you to feel sion and hands-on experience with the as a link between the public and the that we are working together towards different processes in STM publishing, scientific community. Now the in- a common goal. including development of an editorial dustry is increasingly geared towards vision, production processes, strategic open access, based on the demands Just as with a PhD project, there is not marketing and business development. of the scientific community and fund- a general step-by-step protocol to fol- It has a strong mentorship component, ing sources. While (Gold) open ac- low in order to develop the projects so even though I change projects and cess might be a desired end goal for I am assigned, and to decide which departments, my mentor always has some disciplines such as biomedical resources to use. It is a process of re- an overview of my activities, provides research and neuroscience, it may be search, reading literature as well as support and advice when needed, and less feasible for others, such as the arts talking to colleagues and customers, to is involved in every important decision and humanities. Therefore, we are try- figure out how to solve the problem at regarding the traineeship. Changing ing to engage in a dialog with all par- hand by combining different strategies.

NEUROSCIENCE 27 AlumniOutside Academia

Doing a PhD is very useful for this kind company, comparable to the scientific as well as the career exploration web- of job because you learn how to work community. Our official language is site of Columbia University: independently, find information on English, which makes it very easy for http://www.careereducation. your own and organize your projects everyone to communicate with each columbia.edu/resources/library/ with the available time and resources. other. People are motivated to do a cce-resources/tipsheets. It also gives you tools to communicate good job and to contribute wherever your results and ideas effectively, using there is room for improvement. In- Probably the most valuable experi- a clear and straightforward message. novative ideas are discussed and de- ence for me until now, in addition to All those GGNB “soft skills” courses veloped, but of course in a business having the opportunity to learn about (which I personally loved) also come environment, it is very important to re- the publishing industry and working at in very handy. member that you have to think ahead an international scale, has been to be and evaluate not only if an idea is able to step briefly into the shoes of the One thing is different from the PhD: good, but if it is viable in the long term. different roles in the process of scien- due to the nature of the traineeship, I If you are thinking about what you tific communication, and to try to un- need to learn how to let go of my pro- want to do in the future, I recommend derstand at the same time many points jects before moving to the next stage. reaching out to people within your of view: that of a scientist, an author, a At work, I need to define how deep I network who have followed a path reader, a marketer, a manager, a sales- actually need to go, taking into con- you feel curious about. Ask about their man, a librarian, a policy maker, a med- sideration deadlines and project goals, experiences, the difficulties and the ical doctor and a researcher outside of and I need to communicate with others advantages or their job and especially academia. From within the company, I constantly along the way. I like the fact about what motivated them to pursue get the chance to imagine, for instance, that I can work anywhere and anytime that type of career. This may tell you how a publishing editor defines which as long as I have my PC and an inter- about the compatibility of your priori- topics are interesting for a new series of net connection, and that I don’t need ties and personality with the job, as we books, how a corporate marketing man- to reserve the confocal microscope/ cannot really see much just by looking ager defines how to approach potential ultracentrifuge/microtome slots. I really from the outside. There are also many clients in emerging markets depending like to talk to people as part of my job resources online, my personal favorites on the strength of different industries in and am glad that publishing has such a being the Tools and Tips section of the the region, or how product developers significant human and social compo- Science Careers portal: work to improve the user experience nent to it. http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/ and decide which new features should Springer is a very, very international tools_tips/outreach/booklets be included in our services according to our users’ needs. I feel like I have gained a broader perspective of what Natalia MANRIQUE-HOYOS did her is happening around scientific publish- doctoral thesis in Mikael Simon’s department at the Max ing on a global and regional scale, how Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, Center for different economic, political and social Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology. She defended factors can influence research output, her PhD thesis in October 2012. and the way these results are broad- casted to the world. In this interface of Springer Science+Business Media B.V. increasing output of scientific research, Van Godewijckstraat 30 new technologies and digital media, 3311 GX Dordrecht, the Netherlands in the end it is all about communicating with each other and sharing local knowledge with the rest of the world.

28 NEUROSCIENCE HonorsAwards & Creutzfeldt Award

Stipends/Honors/Prizes Creutzfeldt PhD Prize

Ilma Dewiputri PhD stipend from The Creutzfeldt PhD Prize is awarded Dr. Ioanna Bethani (2011) the Ministry of Higher Education for the best PhD thesis in memoriam Goethe-Universität Frankfurt Malaysia (MOHE) of Prof. Dr. Otto Detlev Creutzfeldt, Institute of Cell Biology and Neuro- founding director of the department of science Cluster of Excellence Pooja Rao PhD Fellowship by the Neurobiology at the Max Planck Insti- Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience European Neuroscience Campus tute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göt- Macromolecular Complexes (CEF) Network (ENC Network) tingen. The price is awarded since 2007 Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438 Frankfurt to PhD graduates of the Neuroscience am Main Swathi Srivatsa PhD Fellowship program based on excellent achieve- awarded by Boehringer Ingelheim ments during the PhD and the grading Dr. Stephan Junek (2011) Fonds of the written dissertation and the oral Max Planck Institute for Brain defense. Since 2011 two winners have Research Hope Agbemenyah Inge and Fritz been selected for the Creutzfeldt Prize Neural Systems and Coding Group Kleekamm Research Price of the every two years. Deutschordenstraße 46 Alzheimer Foundation 60528 Frankfurt am Main The last award ceremony took place Shahaf Peleg Schilling Research on May 22, 2013 during the opening of Sadim JAWHAR, Ph.D. (2013) Award 2011 for young resear- the NEURIZONS Symposium 2013 in Biomedical Research Institute chers by the German Neuro- the presence of Gregor Eichele (Dean Doha, Qatar science Society of the IMPRS for Neurosciences), Di- eter Melzner (Sartorius stedim AG) and Dr. David OWALD (2013) Raunak Sinha Otto Hahn Medal Mary Creutzfeldt, who presented the Center for Neural Circuits 2011 for young researchers by the book ‘Cortex Cerebri’ written by her and Behavior Max Planck Society late husband Otto Creutzfeldt to the Oxford University, United Kingdom awardees. The award also includes a gift of 500,- € which is sponsored by The following students have been the Göttingen company Sartorius ste- awarded a GGNB Excellence dim biotech AG, which generously Stipend: supports the Neuroscience program Anthony Tsang (2011), since its foundation. Siv Vingill (2012), Tanvi Butola (2013), Dr. Irina DUDANOVA (2007) Ricardo Merino (2013) Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology Department of Molecular Neuro- biology Creutzfeldt Award Ceremony during the Am Klopferspitz 18 opening of the NEURIZONS Symposium 2013 D-82152 Martinsried (from left to right): Gregor Eichele, David Owald, Sadim Jawhar, Dieter Melzner, Mary Dr. Henry LÜTCKE (2009) Creutzfeldt, Michael Hörner Brain Research Institute University of Zurich Winterthurerstrasse 190 8057 Zurich, Switzerland

NEUROSCIENCE 29 FacultyNew Joining the program in 2012 and 2013

Thomas Dresbach Robert Gütig Manuela Schmidt has been a professor at the came to Göttingen as a earned her doctoral de- School of Medicine, Uni- group leader at the Max gree from the IMPRS for versity of Göttingen since Planck Institute for Experi- Neurosciences in Göttin- 2010. His group studies mental Medicine in 2011. gen in 2006. After having aspects of synapse forma- The group’s research inter- spent her postdoc years tion with particular focus on the bio- est is directed towards the identification at the Scripps Research Institute in La genesis of presynaptic nerve terminals of the computational principles underly- Jolla, California, Dr. Schmidt returned and aims at understanding the mecha- ing spike based information processing to Göttingen in 2012 and became an nisms of synaptogenesis to pinpoint and learning in central nervous systems Emmy Noether Group Leader in the molecular causes of synaptopathies. and the understanding of how these field of somatosensory signaling at the Prof. Dresbach is a member in three principles are implemented by biologi- Max Planck Institute for Experimental programs of GGNB: Neurosciences cal processes. Dr. Gütig is a member of Medicine. Her research focuses on the (IMPRS), Molecular Physiology of the the IMPRS for Neurosciences as well as comparative and quantitative analysis Brain (CMPB), and Sensory and Motor in the GGNB programs Theoretical and of somatosensory signaling networks in Neuroscience. Computational Neuroscience and Sen- established mouse models of acute and Further information: http://www.uni- sory and Motor Neuroscience. chronic pain. goettingen.de/en/189463.html Further information: Further informa- Further information: http://www.uni- tion: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/ goettingen.de/en/420505.html Gregor Eichele en/317894.html is the new dean of the IM- Michael Sereda PRS for Neurosciences. Ira Milosevic became a group leader Prof. Eichele was director moved from Yale Univer- for Molecular and Trans- of the Max Planck Institute sity to Göttingen in 2012 lational Neurology at the of Experimental Endocri- where she became an in- Max Planck Institute for nology (Dept. of Molecular Embryol- dependent group leader Experimental Medicine in ogy) in Hannover. In 2006 he moved in the European Neuro- 2007. In 2010, Dr. Sereda took over to Göttingen and became director at science Institute (ENI-G). In January a professorship for Neurology and the Max Planck Institute of Biophysical 2006 Dr. Milosevic graduated from the Neurogenetics and obtained the DFG- Chemistry (Dept. Genes and Behav- IMPRS for Neurosciences. During her Heisenberg professorship “Hereditary ior). Prof. Eichele earned his doctoral PhD she worked on the role of PI(4,5) Neuropathies” in 2012. Prof. Sereda’s degree in Basel, Switzerland and spent P2 and SNAREs in exocytosis in the research focuses on glia cell biology, 17 years as a postdoc, assistant profes- department of Prof. Neher. Thereafter axon-glia interaction and mechanisms sor, and professor in the USA – among she did her postdoc at Yale University of diseases of the peripheral nervous others at Harvard and the Baylor Col- School of Medicine in New Haven, system (PNS). lege. His department investigates the USA. Currently, Dr. Milosevic investi- Further information: http://www.uni- dynamic interplay between gene ex- gates aspects of synaptic vesicle recy- goettingen.de/en/420005.html pression, development and behavior cling with respect to neurological and with the focus on developmental biol- neurodegenerative diseases. ogy of the nervous system, circadian Further information: http://www.uni- clocks, and functional genomics of the goettingen.de/en/419893.html brain. Further information: http://www.uni- goettingen.de/en/57934.html

30 NEUROSCIENCE FacultyLeaving Left the program since 2011

Stefan Eimer Gabriele Flügge and other abnormalities with respect studied biochemistry in has been a senior scientist to neurodegenerative and psychiatric Bayreuth and Munich and in the Clinical Neurobiol- diseases. spent his postdoc time at ogy Laboratory at the Ger- Further information: http://www.uni- Ecole Normale Superieure man Primate Center and goettingen.de/en/57949.html in Paris, France. He came became member of the to Göttingen as a group leader at the IMPRS for Neurosciences in 2002. She Erwin Neher European Neuroscience Institute (ENI- studied central nervous mechanisms in had been the dean of the G) in 2005 working on molecular ge- animal models of chronic psychosocial IMPRS for Neurosciences netics and neurodegeneration. His stress with respect to clinical symptoms since its foundation in the group investigates basic mechanisms of depression in humans. Stress-in- year 2000 until 2012. Prof. and rules that control the trafficking duced changes in gene expression have Neher came to Göttingen and sorting of ligand gated ion chan- been described in distinct neurons of in 1983 when he became Director of nels within the secretory apparatus. the brain and correlated with changes the Membrane Biophysics Department Since 2006, Stefan Eimer has been in neurotransmitter systems, recep- at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysi- coordinating the Network of Europe- tors, transporters and other molecules. cal Chemistry. His research focuses on an Neuroscience Institutes (ENINET) Mechanisms underlying the beneficial the role of calcium in exocytosis, neu- and the Electron Microscopy Network effects of antidepressant drugs and mo- rotransmitter release, and short term Goettingen (GöNEM). In 2012, he took lecular factors that might play a role in synaptic plasticity using a variety of over a position as professor for struc- depression have been investigated by electrophysiological and quantitative tural cell biology at the University of behavioral studies. imaging techniques. He was awarded Freiburg. Further information: http://www.uni- the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1991 Further information: http://www.zbsa. goettingen.de/en/57946.html for his discoveries concerning the func- uni-freiburg.de/projects/ag-eimer tion of single ion channels in cells in- Eberhard Fuchs vestigated with the patch-clamp tech- Wolfgang Engel was one of the founding nique. had been a member of the members of the IMPRS for Further information: http://www.uni- IMPRS for Neurosciences Neurosciences. For many goettingen.de/en/420505.html from its beginning. As pro- years Prof. Fuchs initiated fessor of Human Genetics, the MSc curriculum with Diethelm Richter at the university medical his lectures and ensured a ‘flowery’ has been the chair of the faculty, he focuses on the molecular start for the MSc classes, which has Department of Neuro- and analysis of variability and genetic dis- become a tradition in the Neurosci- Sensory Physiology at the turbances of development and differ- ence Program ever since. Prof. Fuchs university medical faculty. entiation with respect to genetically was appointed as Professor for Animal Besides being a found- determined malformation syndromes. Physiology, heading the Clinical Neu- ing member of the IMPRS for Neuro- His group also investigated the struc- robiology group at the German Primate sciences, Prof. Richter coordinated the ture, expression and function of genes Center. His major research interest has SFB 406 which generated the scientific involved in differentiation of male been to investigate the functioning network in Göttingen which led to the gametes, and isolated spermatogonial of the brain in animal models of psy- establishment of the DFG Research stem cells demonstrated to be pluripo- chiatric diseases. Behavioral studies Center Molecular Physiology of the tent. including complex social interactions Brain (CMPB) in 2002 with him as a Further information: http://www.uni- in suitable animal models are used to speaker. Prof. Richter later became goettingen.de/en/57938.html detect and quantify cognitive, motor speaker of the Cluster of Excellence

NEUROSCIENCE 31 FacultyLeaving

Microscopy at the Nanometer Range is –besides providing other clinical ser- poral patterns in the context of acous- (CNMPB). Moreover, Prof. Richter was vices- responsible for neuropsycholog- tic communication. Understanding chairman of the European Neurosci- ical diagnostics of patients. Research these processes bears implications also ence Institute Göttingen (ENI-G). His projects deal with the investigation of on signal processing in the vertebrate research concentrates on the analysis cognitive neuropsychology with re- auditory pathway and with respect to of molecular factors relevant for signal spect to child development using func- the evolution of auditory communi- processing and integration in identified tional-imaging techniques (fMRI) and cation systems in general. Studies in neuronal networks, namely respiratory EEG. bushcrickets indicate that frequency- networks with respect to clinical syn- Further information: http://www.uni- dependent inhibition occurring redun- dromes such as the Rett syndrome. goettingen.de/en/83751.html dantly on different levels is crucial for Further information: http://www.uni- frequency tuning. goettingen.de/en/58022.html Andreas Stumpner Further information: http://www.uni- has been a member of the Neurosci- goettingen.de/en/58041.html Nicole von Steinbüchel-Rheinwall ence Program since 2003 as Professor joined the Neuroscience program in of Zoology at the Johann 2007. Prof. Steinbüchel- Friedrich Blumenbach In- Rheinwall heads the Insti- stitute for Zoology and An- tute for Medical Psycholo- thropology. His research gy and Medical Sociology focuses on how a small at the University Medical insect nervous system rec- Center Göttingen, which ognizes specific frequencies and tem-

Current Faculty Members

Matthias Bähr Ralf Heinrich Detlev Schild Thomas Bayer Stefan Hell Oliver Schlüter Nils Brose Michael Hörner Manuela Schmidt Wolfgang Brück Swen Hülsmann Michael Sereda Camin Dean Reinhard Jahn Mikael Simons Thomas Dresbach Hubertus Jarry Jochen Staiger Hannelore Ehrenreich Siegrid Löwel Judith Stegmüller Gregor Eichele Till Marquardt Anastassia Stoykova André Fiala Ira Milosevic Walter Stühmer André Fischer Tobias Moser Stefan Treue Alexander Flügel Klaus-Armin Nave Andreas Wodarz Jens Frahm Luis Pardo Fred Wolf Tim Friede Walter Paulus Fred Wouters Theo Geisel Diethelm W. Richter Martin Göpfert Michael Rickmann For details regarding the research of all faculty Robert Gütig Silvio Rizzoli members, please see www.gpneuro.uni- Uwe-Karsten Hanisch Moritz Rossner goettingen.de/content/c_faculty.php

32 NEUROSCIENCE CampusEvents GGNB career service Bridging the gap - shedding (some) light on life after the PhD

Should I apply for a(nother) postdoc? part in the think tank of the “Stiftung a specific focus on networking and What alternatives are out there? Doubts Neue Verantwortung” in Berlin, which experience exchange among postdocs about PhD’s qualification for non- aimed at encouraging an intersectional and late-stage PhD students. In the first academic jobs are widespread. Doubts dialogue between science, business, meeting, Dr. Christina Schütte, alum- about success in an academic career politics, and society, in my case about na of the MPI for Biophysical Chemi- are no less. Since about a year, GGNB the challenges and promises of the stry, talked about her work as trainer offers specific career advice and ser- new digital society. Finally, I’m one of and consultant for grant and scientific vices for postdocs and late-stage the founders of the group blog wissens- writing. Two further sessions dealt with GGNB PhD students in this regard. dialoge.de on which we discuss and networking, one with a more general And I’m the lucky person to establish report about psychological research input on networking and discussions them. relevant for practitioners in knowledge about own practices, the other with management and organizational lear- a speed networking among postdocs To give you an impression about me, ning. and discussion about potential further here a few words about my own ca- networking events in Göttingen. The reer: I studied Psychology at the Uni- Based on the feedback and requests I fourth session was about doing suc- versity of Jena, and completed my got during first year of the GGNB Ca- cessful research and being a parent Ph.D. at the University of Zurich. The reer Services, it became clear that the and aimed at facilitating information last five years, I carried out research demand to establish such a service and experience exchange with the Fa- about social psychological and moti- also exists in Göttingen. The seven mily Service of the University as well vational aspects of computer-mediated workshops I organized were mostly as among parents(-to-be). communication and cooperation, es- fully booked; some were even over- pecially in social networks, as post- booked. Especially the workshops For more individual questions, I met doc at the Leibniz-Knowledge Media about career opportunities and about with 20 postdocs and late-stage PhD Research Center (KMRC) in Tübingen. job hunting and application skills have students for a counseling hour. Over Besides research, I was responsible for been welcomed and will thus take all, more than 80 junior scientists took equal opportunity issues, good scienti- place on a regular basis. I started the part in at least one of the events. More fic practice, and a series of workshops so-called Career Impulse Sessions as than 120 are registered to date – and of the graduate program at the KMRC. short 2-hour meetings with various the number constantly grows. To see beyond my own nose, I took career-related topics and guests, with

NEUROSCIENCE 33 CampusEvents

As I already wrote in January 2013 in career-supporting activities organized You can find further details on the the Molecular Biology Newsletter, I’m by the postdocs themselves. Insights GGNB career services and event as enthusiastic about being the coordina- from alumnae and alumni may enrich well as career-related information on tor of the GGNB Career Service Unit. this exchange, because you are now the GGNB Career Blog www.ggnb- I have even become more enthusiastic out there. If you would like to share blog.uni-goettingen.de. I hope very over the last months as I met so many your experience in a Career Impulse much to get to know some of you at an passionate, curious and skilled people Session or any other way, do not hesi- event of the Career Service Unit! who want to be prepared as effectively tate to contact me via e-mail or Linke- as possible for their envisioned career dIn – it might also be your chance to or who search for a career path to come back to Göttingen. follow their aspirations and interests. Clearly, there are numerous career options within and outside academia; but finding the track that fits best with Katrin WODZICKI studied Psychology at the personal and professional goals is both University of Jena and completed her doctoral degree challenging and exciting. My services at the University of Zurich in 2007. She then moved hopefully contribute to providing the to Tübingen and joined the Leibniz Knowledge Media appropriate basis for making informed Research Center where she worked as a postdoc- decisions whilst the excitement of this toral fellow on social psychological and motivational process is rather reinforced. aspects of computer-mediated communication with respect to social networks. She joined GGNB in 2012 Moreover, I see a big potential in the and leads the Career Service Unit which supports exchange of information and expe- postdoctoral researchers in their individual planning riences. For example, it was impressive for careers inside and outside of academia. how intensely parents and parents-to- be exchanged views and experiences Dr. Katrin Wodzicki with each other; nearly every partici- Georg-August-Universität Göttingen pant of the respective Career Impulse GGNB Career Service Unit Session contributed new pieces of in- Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11 formation or another perspective. As 37077 Göttingen a peer network provides important in- Telephone: +49-(0)551-3912318 formation, support, and career resour- Fax: +49-(0)551-3914047 ces, I want to further enable a vivid ex- E-Mail: [email protected] change within the postdoc community, hopefully resulting in many creative

34 NEUROSCIENCE CampusEvents NEURIZONS 2013 Solving the Brain Puzzle by Siv Vingill and Mateusz Ambrozkiewicz

Emotions that come to our minds, ing bustle singing ‘Uh, that’s a snap, It was on like Donkey Kong and we when we bring back memories from girl!’ and no fatalities were counted. were so ready! Neurizons 2013 are above all the soothing feelings of fulfillment and As the time went into final countdown, The next day started out with a tad of pride disturbingly accompanied by we all started to feel more concerned initiation trouble regarding missing the recollection of an immense back and worried if everything was really nametags, (so if someone still doesn’t pain, overwhelming stress and a ‘next- geared up. Each one of us had a mo- know their names, the tags are avail- time-I-will-have-done-everything-in- ment of ten unanswered phone calls able in our office), but as soon as the advance’ reproach. Nevertheless, we and multiple messages left in the opening ceremony started, things should definitely admit, organizing a mailbox, not to mention thousands of went smooth as the hickory wind. conference is undoubtedly a once-in-a- e-mails from participants, speakers First two excellent young researchers lifetime experience, that requires time and catering companies (not to men- from Göttingen, Dr. Sadim Jawhar and management, extraordinary (at times) tion our organizers-in-chief appealing Dr. David Owald were awarded with social skills, conflict management and to our responsibilities). Speaking of the the “Otto Creutzfeldt PhD Award” for assertiveness. As a compensation for devil – it will be hard to forget despe- their outstanding PhD-research. Then our moments of pain however, we – rate Siv considering the possibility of our invited speakers started a four-day the organizers – were rewarded with becoming a personal sponsor for the block of talks which left us all in a state pride and glory, because – to say the venue… of newfound inspiration and enthusi- least – Neurizons 2013 was a blast! asm for neuroscience. Stephan Sigrist Here is a glimpse of not only what was The final countdown showed 1 day launched the finding of Bruchpilot, a going on backstage, but also on the left and 17 extremely excited people master organizer in the presynapse, speakers’ pedestal. started to have a hunch we had it all Robert Edwards enlightened us on nailed down. Markus at that point his new take on synuclein research It all started with preparatory phone was considering engagement to the through channelrhodopsin injection calls, monthly meetings, financial ne- GWDG printing center, which resulted into mice brains and Rafaella Tonini gotiations, arranging all the respon- in beautiful booklets, ready on time. explained how endocannabinoids can sibilities and eating a lot of pizza in Chaitali spent the last night sorting affect not only our habitual, but also parallel. When the conference was through final details regarding partici- our goal-directed behavior. Jeremy knocking at the door, the organiza- pants, but still managed to be the first Henley then finished off the first day tional tête-à-têtes grew longer, tenser smiley face you saw at the registration with his entertaining talk on SUMO and – for the more stressed ones – also desk in the morning. Zohreh could fi- and its role in synaptic plasticity. became a small source of frustration. nally shake hands with the speakers Some of us took it for granted that eve- whose secretaries she had developed a By the next day we got to enjoy Klas rything will go sway and kept on play- close relationship with during the last Kullander and his trans-species work ing Angry Birds while discussing the year and David enjoyed his time as a uniting genetic studies in Icelandic speakers’ accommodation, the more private chauffeur in a BMW. Everyone horses with catwalk-analyses in mice engaged and devoted ones (that are was absolutely paranoid about the face to elucidate pathways controlling lo- normally appreciated for their stoical photos of the speakers they were sup- comotion in the spinal cord, a thread composure and addictive cheerfulness) posed to guide from the railway station which was effortlessly picked up again would impulsively explode with ‘Can to the hotel – in the end you don’t want in Martyn Gouldings talk about the we please all focus about what we are to end up asking strangers for their IDs “Spinal brain”. We have forever been discussing here?’. After the moment to prove they really were not Franck told, it is a good idea to plan ahead and of awkward silence, there was always Polleux. think when it is down to our careers. someone to restore the jolly and inspir- These days proved it right as three of

NEUROSCIENCE 35 CampusEvents

our most successful alumni gave their Nikos Logothetis followed up by show- with his hard rock performance. And talks. Manuela Schmidt just returned ing how MRI can be used to illuminate for the audience with a more refined to Göttingen to become a group leader neural pathways. And for a while we and sophisticated musical palate, Anne and presented her work on chronic felt like attending a TED-talk when Jeff Wolfes piano concert was an extra treat. and acute pain, Henry Lütcke gave a Lichtman took us through his amazing In this respect, it has to be said that the thorough introduction to novel imag- 3D visualization of our connectome pleasure of having a lecture hall filled ing approaches used to assess auditory through his ”Brainbow”-approach. with PhDs, post-docs and esteemed learning and Stephan Junek visualized single neurons in high resolution and With all that said, with flabbergasting detail. At the end we were thrilled of the day, the pain-guru Alan Bas- when the partici- baum shared knowledge from his long pants could get and outstanding career, telling us why more personal and how life can hurt us. with the speakers during CoachMe For the imaging enthusiasts the third event. Each of the day was a field day. Not only did our participants had local expert Stefan Hell present his their 15 minutes resent STED findings, but Ernst Bam- of uninterrupted berg showed us the revolutionizing conversation with technique, he himself partly unrav- a speaker of their elled, namely optogenetics. In addi- choice. Some of tion, we were introduced to the latest the professors The Neurizons 2013 Organizing Team news on the wave front engineering were so enthusias- microscopy by Eirini Papagiakoumou tic about the event, they wouldn’t stop speakers singing a happy birthday song from Valentina Emiliani’s lab. talking, which left us and Markus Stahl- to you, was in addition to slightly em- berg – the CoachMe organizers – in an barrassing, a wonderful surprise. As ”ubiquitinists” ourselves some per- organizational distress (as the Germans sonal highlights consisted of Azad would ask – where did the Ordnung It may sound as a fairy tale, but the Bonnis lecture on ubiquitination path- go?). After hunting down people that conference didn’t go without a ma- ways and Franck Polleux’ inspiring talk signed up for CoachMe but forgot to jor panic outbreak, when the keynote on axon specification. Hans-Ulrich show up, assertively trying to persuade speaker Susumu Tonegawa didn’t Demut gave us a different career per- the speakers to end the session (time arrive until the very last moment before spective from his position as director of limits!) and interrupting very vivid and his talk. But from that moment on his a pharmaceutical company and Akiko lively discussions, we breathed a sigh talk on false memories kept everyone Nishiyama contributed novel informa- of relief, as the event was great fun and truly amazed and inspired. tion on the development of glial cells. a total success! There is no doubt that the best thing As every conference with any self- about organizing Neurizons is the fact In between lectures, there were times respect, we also gave the students a that you get to interact with awesome for break entertainment and what bet- chance to present themselves through speakers that you have long dreamt of ter way to stimulate our hard-working two poster sessions. After having spent seeing and the end of this conference neurons than with music. Our own hu- hours communicating with what felt just rounded up what had truly been a man beatbox David Brockelt literally like all the catering companies of the wonderful row of talks. Heleen Slagter blew our minds, while Ahmad Nazzal world about number of forks, sizes of shed light on our cognitive abilities and proved that scientists come in all colors tables and color of tablecloths, it was a

36 NEUROSCIENCE CampusEvents

true delight to see that the eager know- We were supported by so many peo- cooperation, and a special thanks from ledge exchange was accompanied by ple, that it is hard to even begin men- our prize winners to Nikon for ensur- people digging into wonderful cheese, tioning everyone, but having Michael ing that they can capture outstanding delicious wine and sausages that could and Sandra ready to answer even the images also in their personal life! make even the most demanding Bavar- dumbest questions was beyond doubt ian proud. On behalf of every satisfied the most valuable. In addition we The exhausted, but very satisfied and PhD we thank the Käse-Boucherain thank Svea Dettmer, who must be con- profoundly inspired organizing com- and Dette’s for their gorgeous catering. sidered a living google when it comes mittee consisted of Bekir Altaş, Ma- After the whole day of talks and scien- to who, where and what in Göttingen. teusz Ambrożkiewicz, Dorota Bad- tific exchange, we also planned a con- And as we are not exactly technical owska, Vinita Bharat, David Brockelt, ference party. Feeling slightly awkward geniuses, (maybe apart from Bekir who Hugo Cruces Solís, Ilma Dewiputri, about offering a dance floor with salsa, made a thoroughly professional web Zohreh Farsi, Hung-En Hsia, Ulrike Balkan beats and a bottle of good old page in the end), we needed Herr Losel Leipscher, Chaitali Mukherjee, Dennis Astra beer to the world most renowned who, together with his staff, seemed to Nestvogel, Markus Stahlberg, Adam scientists, we were truly astonished be able to solve every problem in the Tomczak, Diana Urrego-Blanco, Siv to see that some of them hit the floor whole wide Neurizons. Vingill, and Man Ho Wong. without a moment of hesitation. Nevertheless, as the party was also Without our sponsors none of this Just to sum it all up: 1. If someone asks covered by our budget, some of the or- would have happened and we hope to you to organize a conference, do it! ganizers did not relax as much as all see these cool salesmen again in con- We are forever grateful to have had this the others and went nagging about a ferences both in and out of Göttingen opportunity and wish the next year’s financial status at the bar in the mid- in the future! Thanks to Boehringer organizers good luck (and a lot of dle of the party (ehem, Siv, really…). Ingelheim Stiftung, Merck Millipore, stamina)! 2. If you get the chance, at- The party was a blast and that couldn’t Multichannel Systems, NPI Electro- tend a Neurizons conference! To com- have happened without our scientists- nics, Sartorius, HEKA and World Pre- municate personally with our times DJs and the crew of Freihafen. cision Instruments for an enjoyable finest brains is a definite moment of inspiration that you’ll take with you into your future career.

So from all of us to all of you: May Neurizons 2015 be as fun and rewarding as our May-adventure! The planning phase is starting soon, and the first planning session is scheduled for Wednesday, April 2, 2014, 19:00 h, semi- nar room 2.006 in the ENI.

NEUROSCIENCE 37 CampusEvents Joint Training in the Neurosciences The European Neuroscience Campus Network

mum) mobility stay of 6 months at one partner institution.

PhD students doing their thesis in Göt- tingen are currently fully integrated in GGNB. ENC-PhD students with Göttin- gen as their host university are enrolled as doctoral students of the CMPB PhD The ENC-Network is the organization students. As mentioned in the GGNB Program or Neuroscience Program in that hosts both the Erasmus Mundus renewal proposal filed in 2012, GGNB GGNB. Depending on their mobility Master Course (EMMC) and the Eras- explicitly supports the further devel- scheme and the regulations of their mus Mundus Joint Doctorate (EMJD) opment of joint EU research/teaching chosen partner institution, they may program, in addition to two ITN (Brain- partnerships, including the ENC Net- apply for a joint/double (or cotutelle) Train and SymBad). The ENC-Network work. degree issued from Göttingen and the (ENC: http://www.enc-network.eu) partner institution. The procedures fol- was founded in 2009 with EU fund- In conjunction with the establishment low the GAUSS Doctoral Degree Reg- ing granted in 2010 (doctoral posi- of the European Neuroscience Campus ulations. tions, overhead of 1.3 Mio €/year until training network for doctoral candi- 2015). New call under the EU funding dates, the new European Master Neu- The ‘mobility ENC-PhD students’ who scheme ‘Horizon 2020’ is up from Jan- roscience program ‘NEURASMUS’ has join research groups in Göttingen as uary 2014 onwards. been founded in 2010 with the aim to part of their mobility scheme are also extend exchange and training oppor- enrolled as ‘non-degree’ doctoral stu- tunities also for MSc students. Since dents in the CMPB PhD Program in 2011 three to five NEURASMUS MSc GGNB. For the time being ‘mobility students join the Göttingen Neurosci- ENC-PhD students’ can opt for an in- ence Program per year. They are trained dividual cotutelle certificate stating in at least two home institutes of the project details and time spent in Göt- ENC Network and have the option to tingen. To implement a joint/double enroll in existing and established PhD degree with the ENC partners in the courses in each of the participating future, the department ‘Studium & home institutes after successful gradu- Lehre’ in Göttingen following the gen- ating from the MSc program. eral recommendations of the ‘Hoch- schulrektorenkonferenz’ recommends PhD candidates apply to ENC faculty a minimum stay of 9 months for ‘mo- submitted PhD projects competitively bility ENC-PhD students’ in Göttingen. The EU grant application in 2009 selected by the ENC Board. All ENC was accompanied by the EU Office PhD students are jointly selected by a The ENC partners are joining efforts and the Dean of the Medical Faculty. committee composed of faculty from to establish joint and double degrees The Consortium Agreement (signed in all ENC partners. PhD students submit within the ENC network universities. 2010) stated that ENC doctoral stu- an individual training plan approved dents in Göttingen will be integrated by the ENC Board and the Thesis Ad- into GGNB. In addition, ENC partners visory Committee. ENC doctoral pro- are asked to implement joint/double jects comprise 3 years at the primary degree regulations for ENC doctoral host university plus a mandatory (mini-

38 NEUROSCIENCE CampusEvents Campus events

PhD student representative 10th Anniversary for Sandra research center. election Drube She is also invol- Siv Vingill and Dennis Nestvogel (de- Congratulations to Sandra Drube who ved in the formal puty) have been elected as the new re- joined the coordination team in 2003 supervision and presentatives for the doctoral students and is a member of the Neuroscience implementation of the Neuroscience Program last fall. Program for more than 10 years now. of the doctoral Siv and Dennis will serve as PhD stu- As an almost founding member, she has exam regulations dent representatives for the coming 2 taken care of all ‘people and papers’ during the PhD years starting from January 2014. They ever since. She has successfully guided award procedure. are now the direct contact persons for many generations of program mem- any issues related to the doctoral stu- bers, both students and faculty, over all dent community of the Neuroscience administrative (and other ..) hurdles. 100. PhD Graduate 2013 / Program within GGNB. Congratula- With her open-minded, always friend- 1. PhD Graduate 2003 tions to Siv and Dennis from the coor- ly and actively helpful attitude Sandra dination team, who is looking forward perfectly manages the daily businesses to a fruitful cooperation with the new and challenges even in stressful situ- speakers in the coming years. ations. The program thanks Sandra for her dedicated commitment and wishes The program also wants to thank Ben- her to stay on with the ‘neuros’ for the jamin Wilhelm for his commitment to next decade/s as the program’s admi- the Neuroscience Program and for his nistrative coordinator. contributions during the past 3 years, which allowed addressing, discussing and solving concerns from the perspective of the student body. More- Cordelia Imig, who entered the Neuro- over, Benjamin was on board during science Program in 2008, successful- the application and evaluation of the ly defended her PhD thesis on Octo- excellence initiative proposal and the ber 28, 2013 as the number 100 PhD prolongation of the IMPRS for Neuro- Graduate. Her written thesis, entitled sciences and he certainly substantially ‘Molecular and Morphological Corre- contributed to the successful funding lates of Synaptic Vesicle Priming’ was renewals. Sandra then and now graded with highest distinction ‘summa cum laude’. Congratulations and Welcome Mirja Blötz all the best for her future career. Mirja Blötz joined the ENI coordination office in August 2013 after graduating 10 years earlier on January 29, 2003 as a European Business Assistant from the first degree of the Neuroscience the Institute for International Education Program was awarded to Ivan Manzini. & Communication (IBK) in Göttingen. He is currently leading a junior group She is responsible for the organization at the Center for Physiology and Pa- of teaching activities and the adminis- thophysiology, Institute for Neurophy- tration of the doctoral program of the siology and Cellular Biophysics at the CNMPB cluster of excellence/DFG Faculty of Medicine in Göttingen.

NEUROSCIENCE 39 Neurofaces 2000 – 2014