Speakers: Thomas Kim, AIAS-DANDRITE Fellow, group leader at DANDRITE and Barbara Berger, AIAS Fellow

The seminar is held in-person, but online attendance is possible via:  https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/65173958293

Two 15-minute talks on INTERNEURONS from two different research fields, followed by a 30-minute commenting and discussion session. 

Interneurons play a crucial role in the nervous system. Interneurons are fundamental in integrating, processing, and interpreting information across the brain, enabling complex decision making and the coordination of diverse physiological functions. The importance of interneurons lies not only in their functions but also in their diversity. Interneurons come in diverse subtypes, with each having distinct origins during the development of the nervous system. This diversity and origins in interneurons contribute to a wide range of physiological and cognitive processes.

Within this context, (high) frequency oscillations are thought to provide an operational structure for information processing in the brain. They contribute to cognitive functions, such as memory formation and sensory processing, and are disturbed in numerous psychiatric disorders. Inhibitory interneurons are thought to play a key role in the generation of these oscillations by interacting with excitatory neurons and influencing the Excitation-Inhibition equilibrium. In non-invasive electrophysiology we cannot measure inhibitory interneurons directly but the delicate changes in Excitation-Inhibition interactions resulting in oscillations of various frequencies. These E/I interactions are significantly disrupted in psychiatric disorders like Schizophrenia, Attention Deficit, Parkinson’s Disease etc. resulting in measurable differences in oscillatory activity offering valuable non-invasive insights into disorder related changes in the human brain.

Short bio on Thomas Dong Won Kim

Thomas Kim is a group leader of the Kim Group at The Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE) & an associate professor at the Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University and an AIAS-DANDRITE fellow. The Kim research group investigates molecular mechanisms that regulate cell states in neurodegeneration and neurodevelopment utilizing multi-Omics approaches. 

His research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling microglial subtypes in neurodegenerative disorders and evaluating potential approaches to target these microglia as therapeutic interventions and as biomarkers. This research will improve our understanding of microglia in the context of Alzheimers' Disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, and evaluate potential approaches to target these microglia as therapeutic interventions and as biomarkers. 

More about Thomas Kim and the Kim Group research here.  

Short bio on Barbara Berger

Barbara Berger is currently an AIAS-COFUND Fellow. She obtained an integrated BSc-Masters degree in Psychology (clinical and neuroscience) at Salzburg University, Austria and Auckland University, New Zealand and a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at Surrey University, UK. She then moved on to a postdoc position at LMU Munich, Germany and a Marie Sklodowska Curie IF at Birmingham University, UK. Barbara Berger investigates how information is maintained in Working Memory and how underlying neural mechanisms are impacted by perceptual and attentional constraints.

What is an AIAS Seminar?

The AIAS Seminar is a session of seminars held by the AIAS fellows or by other speakers proposed by the fellows. In each seminar, one or more fellow(s) will present and discuss his/her current research, closing off with a question and discussion session.

All seminars are held in English.