Neuron are champions of cell-cell communication. Yet, their cell biology is not well understood. Our understanding of complex brains made of billions of neurons requires solid cellular foundations. Our group aim to provide these solid cellular foundations in a simple circuit made of 302 neurons and ~7000 synapses in C. elegans.
Using concepts and techniques employed in cell biology and in the C. elegans community, we tease the (sub)cellular mechanisms that power neuron-to-neuron communication in our brain. How neurons respond and adapt to stimuli ? How neurons communicate with each other by synapses, gap-junctions, neuropeptides? How cell signaling and transcriptional changes modify behaviour? These are the sort of questions we try to address.
Our lab is part of the of the Neurophysiology Lab , the ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI) of the University of Brussels (ULB)