We are what we remember: Learning and memory are fundamental building blocks of our identity and knowledge of the past informs our behavior in the present. The persistence of memory is one of the most striking and defining features of cognition. However, the neural circuits supporting normal processing in the brain appear to constantly rearrange themselves. But how can stable memory arise if network structure itself seemingly is in constant flux? In our group at the IEECR we study the stability and stabilisation of the neural code in sensation and memory. We address the “stability-plasticity-conundrum” in the mouse visual system, retrosplenial cortex, and hippocampal formation on multiple scales, ranging from the synaptic to the circuit level. We focus on establishing novel densely quantified behavioral paradigms, emphasizing unrestrained behavior, longitudinal synapse- and circuit-level optophysiology, and the use and further development of both miniaturized and bench-top two-photon microscopy. Ultimately, we aim to better understand the circuit dynamics underlying complex visually guided behavior and learning and memory.

Methods

• Miniature and bench-top two-photon imaging
• Wide-field imaging
• Freely moving and head-fixed behavior
• Circuit interrogation using optophysiology and electrophysiology

5 most important publications

1. Obenhaus, H.A., Zong, W., Jacobsen, R.I., Rose, T., Donato, F., Chen, L., Cheng, H., Bonhoeffer, T., Moser, M.-B., and Moser, E.I. (2022). Functional network topography of the medial entorhinal cortex. PNAS, in press
2. Bauer J*, Weiler S*, Fernholz MHP*, Laubender D, Scheuss V, Hübener M, Bonhoeffer T, and Rose T. (2021) Limited functional convergence of eye-specific inputs in the retinogeniculate pathway of the mouse. Neuron 109: 2457-2468. *equal contribution
3. Jaepel J, Hübener M, Bonhoeffer T, Rose T. (2017) Lateral geniculate neurons projecting to primary visual cortex show ocular dominance plasticity in adult mice. Nature Neuroscience 20: 1708-1714.
4. Rose T, Jaepel J, Hübener M, Bonhoeffer T. (2016) Cell-specific restoration of stimulus preference after monocular deprivation in the visual cortex. Science 352: 1319-1322.
5. Rose T, Schoenenberger P, Jezek K and Oertner TG. (2013). Developmental refinement of vesicle Cycling at Schaffer Collateral Synapses. Neuron 77: 1109-1121.