Friday seminar – Norbert Hajos

Friday 25th October at 11:30

Venue: Centre Broca

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Norbert Hajos
HUN-REN Institute of Experimental Medicine, Budapest, Hungary
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, USA

Invited by Thomas Bienvenu (CH Charles Perrens, Neurocentre Magendie) and Frédéric Lanore (CNRS, IINS)

Title

Neuronal network mechanisms driven by aversive stimuli

Abstract

Detecting salient stimuli, such as those causing pain, is crucial for survival. Any aversive signal should first terminate ongoing network activities to be adequately processed, followed by appropriate action selection and long-term memory formation. To date, the circuit mechanisms underlying salient signal detection and consequential memory formation are not well understood. In the first part of my talk, I will present our recent unpublished findings supporting a novel operational model for inhibitory interneurons that control the switching of cortical functions upon aversive stimulus delivery, which is the first step in signal processing in cortical structures. In the second part of my talk, I will show an example of how an aversive stimulus can induce long-term memory formation at cellular and synaptic levels. In this section, I will demonstrate that the central amygdala is a site for contextual memory formation, where the enhancement of synaptic transmission at hippocampal afferents critically depends on the function of a midbrain pathway. By uncovering the detailed circuit mechanisms underlying aversive stimulus-driven network changes, we may also gain significant insights into abnormal network operations that typify various mental disorders, including attention deficit and PTSD.

Selected publications

Nagy-Pál P, Veres JM, Fekete Z, Karlócai MR, Weisz F, Barabás B, Reéb Z, Hájos N. Structural organisation of perisomatic inhibition in the mouse medial prefrontal cortex. J Neurosci. 43:6972-6987. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0432-23 (2023)

Hájos N. Interneuron Types and Their Circuits in the Basolateral Amygdala. Frontiers Neural Circuits 10:15:687257.doi: 10.3389/fncir.2021.687257 (2021)

Rhomberg T, Rovira-Esteban L, Vikór A, Paradiso E, Kremser C, Nagy-Pál P, Papp OI, Tasan R, Erdélyi F, Szabó G, Ferraguti F, Hájos N. VIP-immunoreactive interneurons within circuits of the mouse basolateral amygdala. J Neurosci 38:6983-7003. (2018) doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2063-17.2018

Andrási T, Veres J, Rovira-Esteban L, Kozma R, Vikór A, Gregori E, Hájos N. Differential Excitatory Control of Two Parallel Basket Cell Networks in Amygdala Microcircuits. PLOS Biology e2001421. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2001421. (2017)

Veres JM, Nagy GA, Hájos N. Perisomatic GABAergic synapses of basket cells effectively control principal neuron activity in amygdala networks. eLife. 6. pii: e20721. doi: 10.7554/eLife.20721. (2017)