Cybernétique des microcircuits thalamiques et corticaux

Leader

Thierry
BAL

Research center

Unité de Neuroscience, Information et Complexité
1 avenue de la Terrasse1 avenue de la Terrasse
91190 Gif-sur-Yvette
Yves Frégnac

Institution

CNRS
Université Paris Sud
ED 158
Université Pierre et Marie Curie

Laboratory

UNIC CNRS
Phone: 01 69 82 34 21
UNIC CNRS FRE 3693
Site web
Idex NeuroSaclay

Mots clefs

Cell-machine interface
thalamo-cortical
synaptic homeostasy
neuronal magnetic field
Available to host a PhD student

publications

See publications in Chercheurs/T. BAL 

Gomes, J.-M., bedard, C., Valtcheva, S., Nelson, M., Khokhlova, V., Pouget, P., Venance, L., Bal, T., & Destexhe, A. (2016) Intracellular Impedance Measurements Reveal Non-ohmic Properties of the Extracellular Medium around Neurons. Biophysj, 110, 234–246.

Ouanounou, G., Baux, G., & Bal, T. (2016) A novel synaptic plasticity rule explains homeostasis of neuromuscular transmission.eLife, 5 : e12190

Behuret, S., Deleuze, C., & Bal, T. (2015). Corticothalamic Synaptic Noise as a Mechanism for Selective Attention in Thalamic Neurons. Front Neural Circuits, 9, 11633

Casale, A.E., Foust, A.J., Bal, T., & McCormick, D.A. (2015). Cortical Interneuron Subtypes Vary in Their Axonal Action Potential Properties. Journal of Neuroscience, 35, 15555–15567

Fields of research

Neurophysiology / systems neuroscience

Research Theme

Our team is specialized in electrophysiology in vitro. One of our main technological achievements is the development of a neuron-machine interface based on dynamic-clamp that allows the reconstruction of “hybrid circuits”, made of living neurons synaptically interacting with computer models. Current research interests include the modulation of sensory information processing in the thalamus and cortex by top-down background synaptic activity (in intra-UNIC collaboration with Alain Destexhe and Yves Frégnac’s teams). We recently implemented hybrid circuits reproducing the main features of the thalamic gate and explored the functional impact of various statistics of the cortical feedback. We found that the regulation of sensory information is critically determined by the statistical coherence of the cortical feedback. We also apply the technique to exploration of homeostatic plasticity at the neuromuscular synapse and its pathologies. We demonstrate for the first time the mechanisms of homeostasis at the neuromuscular synapse, and its control in real-time using the cell-computer interface (G. Ouanounou). We currently collaborate with D.A. McCormick (Yale university, USA) on unprecedented high-resolution voltage sensitive imaging of neurons, a recent methodology that allows recording of membrane potential from previously inaccessible portions of neurons.

Lab rotation

From circuit to dendritic activities in active cortical slices in vitro

Chercheur responsable: 

BAL Thierry

Dates: 

18 September 2017 - 29 June 2018

Date limite de candidature: 

29 June 2018

Period

~ Sept-Dec 2017

~ Jan-March 2018

~ April-June 2018

Project

We use refined techniques to maintain spontaneous slow oscillations (up and down states) in preserved neural circuits in mouse brain slices, and explore dendritic dynamics in individual neurons using voltage sensitive dye imaging.In a recently designed slice, both the entorhinal cortex and the claustrum (a mysterious structure hypothetized as a hub for attention and consciousness, linking most cortical areas in the brain. Goll et al., TINS 2015) are both strongly synaptically active. The project will explore interactions between these structures and their cell/circuits dynamics using patch-clamp and calcium and voltage imaging. 

Contact

Unité de Neurosciences Information et Complexité (UNIC) - 1 avenue de la Terrasse, bat 32-33 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex 91198 - +33 1 69 82 34 21 - +33 6 52 17 87 51 - Thierry.bal@unic.cnrs-gif.fr

Superviseur: 

BAL Thierry