Spontaneous neuronal activity in sensory brain regions is spatiotemporally structured, suggesting that this ongoing activity may have a functional role. Nevertheless, the neuronal interactions underlying these spontaneous activity patterns, and their biological relevance, remain elusive. We addressed these questions using…  Continue reading →

Our main interest is how neural networks of the brain support its cognitive capacities. We are focusing on the procedural learning, i.e. the acquisition of skills through repeated performance and practice of a behavior in response to external cues. Cortex/thamus-basal…  Continue reading →

In the neocortex, perisomatic inhibition onto principal pyramidal neurons (PNs) determines the dynamic range of pyramidal neuron responses during sensory processing and drive several forms of network oscillations, believed to be the network correlate of several cognitive functions. The inhibitory…  Continue reading →

Microglia, the macrophage of the CNS and peripheral macrophages, combined, have been implicated in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the most common adult-onset motor neuron disease, but without discriminating their respective roles. Since we have shown that microglial cells participated to…  Continue reading →

Technologies for recording and manipulating neuronal membrane potential in vivo in defined neuronal populations with high fidelity will be essential to understand how information is represented, processed, and propagated in the brain. Genetically encoded voltage indicators and optogenetic actuators are…  Continue reading →

Consistent individual differences in behaviours represent an ubiquitous feature in animal populations. These behavioural differences among individuals define personality and have been linked to the susceptibility to addiction. Indeed, the susceptibility to develop drug addiction differs substantially between individuals and some traits that characterize an individual,…  Continue reading →