Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience

Researchers are working to understand how vision comes together

Largest grant in the eight-year history of the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience

Advanced super-resolution imaging technology benefiting life sciences will now be available in the U.S.

Researchers from Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Duke University, and collaborators have identified a novel signaling system controlling neuronal plasticity

Florida-based Max Planck researchers optimize a spatiotemporally controlled method to induce and visualize synapse formation in cortical neurons

In college they called him Stump – as in tree stump – because of his physique and his strong will. Today, former football player Samuel Young is a renowned neuroscientist.

Biological power plants called mitochondria are anchored near neuronal synapses to power their remodeling during memory formation. However, how mitochondria are locally stabilized was a mystery. We have recently discovered that the ALS - amyotrophic lateralsclerosis - linked protein VAP is a molecular anchor that tethers mitochondria near synapses to support memory formation. This finding opens new directions for research into cognitive and motor impairments in ALS.

The delayed execution of planned movement until a specific cue is essential for everyday behavior. For example, we wait until the traffic light turns green before turning. Now scientists have discovered how the brain uses an environmental cue, like a green light, to turn plans into action. This work offers insight into how brain activity is orchestrated to control complex behaviors. However, it also provides insight into the circuits that control cue-triggered movement, findings that may help optimize the treatment of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease.

Memory captures our daily experiences and shapes who we are. Yet our brain does not passively record individual moments, but internally processes these moments in the hippocampus, where they are linked into interconnected sequences of episodic memories. There, some neurons activate sequentially as an animal navigates through space or performs a memory task. As if the memory were being retraced, the same sequence reoccurs whenever the task is repeated.

Neurexins are proteins in the presynaptic terminals of neurons that reach across the synapse to link to a partner protein on the postsynaptic side. This partnership is important for the formation and function of synapses. Genetic studies indicate that mutations in one member of the neurexin family, neurexin1α (NRXN1α), are found in patients with schizophrenia and autism. We discovered that specific synapses in a part of the fear center of the brain, the amygdala, are particularly susceptible to the loss of NRXN1α, leading to poor ability to learn and understand fear inducing stimuli.

Chandelier cells are inhibitory interneurons that selectively innervate the axon initial segment of pyramidal neurons in the cortex. This synapse placement allows them to suppress the initiation of action potentials in the contacted neurons. Using a combination of genetic and optical methods we discovered a specific cell adhesion molecule that regulates the cell-type specific synapse formation of chandelier cells. Disrupting the associated gene in either the pyramidal neurons or chandelier cells leads to serious malformations in the neural network.