Prof. Dr. Sergio Neuenschwander from the Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte Natal, Brazil will talk about “Entrainment of responses in the LGN reveals principles of perceptual integration” during the MBExC Lecture on July 21st, 2025 at 4:00 pm at the small lecture hall (behind the library) at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Hermann-Rein-Str. 3.

Abstract
Gamma oscillations in the retina have been proposed as a mechanism for visual binding, with early studies showing transmission of fast signals from the retina to the LGN and cortex. However, recent findings in cats suggest that these oscillations may be induced by anesthesia and are absent in the awake state. Consistent with this, recordings from the LGN in conscious humans show no evidence of retinal gamma activity. In this study, we re-examined the phenomenon in anesthetized cats by presenting flickering stimuli and recording LGN responses. We found that neurons could follow high-frequency flicker (up to 60 Hz) when the stimulus was spatially continuous, but entrainment was disrupted by spatial discontinuities such as annular gaps. Using both CRT and LED setups, we showed that asynchronous flicker in the periphery could abolish central entrainment, suggesting a retinal mechanism for long-range synchronization. Future work will explore whether this mechanism depends on eye-specific input and varies by cell type or polarity.

Host: Prof. Dr. Fred Wolf, Göttingen Campus Institute for Dynamics of Biological Networks, University of Göttingen & MPI-DS

Poster of the talk:

Professor Karen Steel, PhD, FRS, FMedSci, from the Wolfson Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre, King’s College London will held a talk about “Which types of hearing loss can be reversed?” during the MBExC Lecture on 20 August, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. at the Michael Lankeit lecture hall, German Primate Center (DPZ), Kellnerweg 4.

Abstract

Progressive hearing loss is very common, particularly as people get older, and there are no medical treatments to slow down or stop the progression for the vast majority of cases. Hearing loss is highly heterogeneous, both in its causes and in the resulting pathology. Therefore, we are likely to need a range of different therapies for different causes and different sites-of-lesion within the inner ear. Some types of pathology may be treatable, even reversible, while other pathologies may not be treatable. Therefore, diagnosis of the cause, or at least the site-of-lesion, will be important to stratify patients for clinical trials, then to select the best treatment for each person. In this talk, I will summarise our understanding of the different ways we can lose our hearing, our progress using model systems to establish which types of pathology could be reversed, and how mouse mutants are giving us clues to how to distinguish different sites-of-lesion.

Host: Dr. Barbara Vona, UMG

Poster of the talk: