Sabine Liebscher
Exciting complexity: Circuit mechanisms of neurodegeneration
The Brain Dynamics Graduate School invites you to the first keynote lecture at the Scientific Day '23:
- Prof. Dr. Dr. Sabine Liebscher
Department of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne & Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, University Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich.
"Exciting complexity: Circuit mechanisms of neurodegeneration"
28th September 2023, 09:00
BBZ Seminar room
Deutscher Platz 5, 04103 Leipzig
Abstract:
Neurodegenerative diseases are typically characterized by the selective vulnerability of distinct neuronal populations, which is a frequently studied subject in these disorders. However, there is now ample evidence pointing towards a causal involvement of circuit elements seemingly spared from frank degeneration. Alterations in function and connectivity and thus the otherwise tightly regulated balance between excitation and inhibition within neural circuits are not only at the heart of symptoms typical of a given neurodegenerative disorder, but can also trigger und fuel the degenerative process per se. I will outline two exemplary diseases, namely in Spinocerebellar Ataxia and in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in which we could recently identify critical circuit elements involved in the degeneration of the respective well-known vulnerable neuronal population. Our work strongly relies on in vivo imaging techniques in behaving mice in order to unravel neuronal and network dysfunction together with subsequent selective chemogenetic manipulations of identified key regulatory elements. With our work, we contribute to an urgently needed improved mechanistic insight into neurodegenerative diseases and succeeded in identifying hitherto unrecognized novel therapeutic targets.