Topic: spontaneous neuronal activity

Globular bushy cells in the cochlear nucleus of the auditory brainstem circuit are responsible for the fast relay of signals to the superior olivary complex. Their axons possess a low internode length/axon diameter ratio (L/D) of ~60 that allow action potentials to travel along their axons with exceptional speed and precision. We investigate how the unusual myelination pattern develops. Recently, we showed that the internode length is determined early in development followed – after hearing onset - by an increase in axon diameter, which causes the L/D ratio to decrease. Additionally, we found

Spontaneous neuronal activity (SNA) plays an important role in the maturation and refinement of neuronal connections. However, neurodegenerative diseases, like tauopathies, can significantly alter SNA. Changes in SNA after the expression of tau mutations have not yet been analysed at presymptomatic stages. Furthermore, the currently available models lack the necessary complexity of the human brain to fully understand the underlying mechanisms of tau pathology and its effects on SNA. To address this, we present a novel in vitro platform utilizing cortical organoids (COs), derived from hPSCs, to

Organoids derived from human stem cells present enormous potential to investigate aspects of human brain development. In this study, we hypothesised that brain organoids represent a suitable method for studying the shift in GABAergic transmission, from excitatory to inhibitory, during development. As several anaesthetics act via GABA receptors, we aimed to investigate how the anaesthetic propofol, known to be a GABA-A receptor agonist, may affect neuronal transmission in cerebral brain organoids at different developmental stages. Organoids cultivated from human embryonic stem cells (H1-ESC), w