Department of Neurobiology

Rafi Malach, Head


Research in Neuroscience in the Department of Neurobiology encompasses a wide variety of subjects, in areas including cellular and molecular biology, neuroanatomy, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), physiology, pharmacology, psychophysics, and computational sciences.

Basically, the research of the various groups of the Department covers, among others, the following topics:


At the Neurobiology Department, the structure, function, development, and plasticity of the nervous system are studied at various levels of analysis, using different types of cell and experimental animal models. The groups studying neuronal function at the molecular and cellular levels use in vitro systems ranging from non-neuronal and neuronal cell lines to primary neuronal and glial cells of cerebellar, hippocampal and cortical origin. In many cases, the cells studied are transfected with genes of interest. These cell systems allow the study of the roles of various components of the nervous system, including cell surface membrane components, specific enzymes, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, growth factors, neuroreceptors, lipid components, ionic channels and cytoskeletal constituents. Algorithms for the synaptic plasticity between neurons, and the role of dendritic ion channels in synaptic input and information processing, are also being studied. Injury models of nerve lesion and oxidative stress paradigms are applied to examine the principles of CNS regeneration, rescue from ischemia and stroke, and apoptotic cell death and senescence.

The groups studying the CNS at the system level are striving to understand the complex neuronal mechanisms underlying learning, memory, and sensory processing (vision, taste, smell), and to determine the relationship between brain and mind. Using track tracing methods, the rules governing the interconnections in the visual cortex are being unraveled. Behavioral studies focus on principles of learning and consolidation, cortical information processing, learning disabilities, and addiction. Functional brain imaging of the human visual cortex is being studied by various techniques, including fMRI. Psychophysical approaches are being used to define processes involved in image segmentation, learning and memory skill acquisition, motor control, and language. Nearly 20 groups of researchers carry out both independent studies and collaborative research with colleagues from within the Department and outside it.


E. Ahissar

Active sensing: Mechanisms of closed loop perception.

Biomimetic technology for active vibrissal touch

Object localization

Sensory substitution - from vision to touch


S. Barash

Neuroscience of looking and seeing


Y. Dudai

The role of saliency-and novelty-detectors in the acquisition and retention of memory in brain.

Mechanisms of memory consolidation, reconsolidation and extinction in the mammalian brain.

Theories of learning and memory.


A. Grinvald

The functional architecture underlying visual perception.
A. Grinvald, D. Omer, L. Rom,

Cortical correlates of attention in behaving monkeys.
A. Grinvald, D. Omer, L. Rom

The space-time dynamics of cortical activity as revealed by population activity (EEG, LFP and real-time optical imaging) coupled with single-unit and intracellular recordings.
A. Grinvald, D. Omer, L. Rom M. Tsodyks

The Interactions between evoked and on-going activity and their potential functional role in cortical processing.
A. Grinvald, D. Omer, M. Tsodyks

The dynamics of cortical representations in the visual cortex.
A. Grinvald, S. Naaman


T. Kimchi

Neuronal Basis of Sexually Dimorphic Behaviors

  1.  Sexually dimorphic pheromone signals ? perception, processing and biology function

  2.  Characterizing novel pheromone-mediated responses in wild-caught mouse colonies

  3.  Identifying the genetic basis of sex-typical social and reproductive behaviors

  4.  Mapping brain circuits controlling innate social and reproductive behaviors


Y. Koch

Regulation of GnRH expression in the mammary gland.

Development of cytotoxic analogs of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH).

Expression and functions of GnRH-II in the brain and in T lymphocytes.


I. Lampl

Synaptic plasticity inducted by sensory stimulation in the cortex

Construction of receptive field properties in the somatosensory cortex

  1.  studying functional connectivity in the barrel cortex

  2.  Mechanisms of adaptation in the cortex

Noise and synchrony in the mammalian cortex

  1.  Dynamic properties and mechanisms of ongoing activity in the cortex

  2.  Patterns in neuronal activity in the cortex


R. Malach

Mapping object-related areas in the human brain.

  1.  Gestalt effects in the human brain.

  2.  Dynamics of object-selective activation.

  3.  Principles of organization of object areas in the human brain.


R. Paz

Neurobiology of learning and memory

Neuronal circuits and interactions between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex

Generalization and specificity of learning

Extinction of memory

Motivational and emotional modulation of memory

Computational approaches to coding mechanisms in the brain

Psychiatric disorders from pathologies in the amygdala-preftonal pathway (e.g. autism, anxiety-disorders, post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD), epilepsy)


M. Rivlin

Direction selective circuits in the retina and their adaptive properties.

Dynamic computations in retinal ganglion cells.

Mechanisms of retinal adaptation.

Information flow along the visual pathway and interpretation of retinal adaptation by higher order visual structures.


D. Sagi

Human vision, with an emphasis on processes involved in image segmentation, learning, and memory.


E. Schneidman

Computational Neuroscience

  1.  Neural Coding

  2.  Information and noise in neural populations

  3.  Decoding neural activity

  4.  Network organization and design

  5.  Natural Scenes

Animal swarming and collective behavior

Decision making and learning

Biological networks


M. Schwartz

The cross-talk between the immune and nervous systems ? autoimmunity as a mechanism of tissue repair: Molecular, cellular, physiological and behavioral aspects.

Immunological aspects of neuronal loss in neurodegenerative and mental disorders (Alzheimer?s, ALS, Huntingdon, Glaucoma).

Spinal cord injury and repair

Development of vaccination for neurodegenerative disorders.

Neurogenesis (stem cells) and inflammation in the CNS.


M. Segal

Intracellular calcium and structural/functional plasticity in cultured neurons.
M. Segal, Dr. Eduard Korkotian, Professor Michael Frotscher

Hippocampal structure and function during stress
M. Segal, Dr. Gayane Grigoryan, Prof. Gal Richter-Levin

Electrical activity in small hippocampal networks
M. Segal, Dominik Freche

Activity maintains survival of neurons in culture
M. Segal, Eldi Schonfeld-Dado


I. Silman

Localization and anchorage to the plasma membrane of acetylcholinestera.

Regulation of folding and assembly of acetylcholinesterase.

Three-dimensional structure of acetylcholinesterase and acetylcholinesterase-anticholinesterase complexes.


N. Sobel

Olfaction

Functional Imaging


M. Tsodyks

Modeling of cortical neuronal populations: From microcircuits to large scale networks.

Information transmission through dynamic synapses.
M. Tsodyks, H. Markram

Population activity in visual cortex.
M. Tsodyks, A. Grinvald, D. Sagi


N. Ulanovsky

* Neurobiology of learning and memory: a systems neuroscience approach

* Mammalian hippocampus (hippocampal place cells) and entorhinal cortex (grid cells)

* Neuronal circuits: hippocampal and entorhinal neural activity in freely-behaving echolocating bats

* Neurophysiological recordings of individual neurons in freely flying bats, using radio-telemetry -- in hippocampus and entorhinal cortex

* From the bat's biological sonar system to spatial cognition

* The neural basis of behavior

* Neural codes for 2-D and 3-D space in the mammalian brain


Z. Vogel

The cannabinoid ligands, their endogenous ligands and signal transduction.
Z. Vogel, Raphael Mechoulam

Regulation of microglial activation by cannabinoids: Possible role in neurodegenrative and neuroinflammatory diseases

Molecular mechanisms of opiate addiction, tolerance and withdrawal.


E. Yavin

Signal transduction and protein kinase C isozymes in brain of normal and growth-retarded fetuses.

Free radicals and lipid modulators in the developing and aging brain.

Novel genes during oxidative stress in utero and role of docosahexaenoic acid.


O. Yizhar

* Development of novel optogenetic methods for light-based control of neural activity in vitro and in vivo

* Synaptic organization and function in cortical networks

* Functional analysis of neural circuit changes associated with psychiatric disease