The Project
Novel roles for identified GABAergic neurons of the cerebral cortex.
Winner
Dr Gábor Tamás
Department of Comparative Psychology
University of Szeged
Közép fasor 52
6726 Hungary
http://phys.bio.u-szeged.hu/
Hungarian Gábor Tamás, aged 37, has already distinguished himself by gaining a D.Sc from the Hungarian academy of Sciences, Budapest, and currently holds an International Senior Research Felloship awarded by the Wellcome Trust, UK. Tamás has made significant contributions to brain physiology and the study of cortical microcircuits, with a strong publication record, for example in the Journal of Neuroscience. As well as being a Wellcome fellow, Tamás is currently associate professor in the department of Comparative Physiology at the University of Szeged in Hungary.
Provisional Award
€ 1,098,780
Project Description
This project is developing and testing emerging ideas about the mechanisms of interaction between single neurons and neural networks in the brain. It is focusing on the two types of inter-neuron connection between single nerve cells and neural networks, ie neurogliaform cells and axo-axonic cells. Tamás and colleagues will be testing their own ideas, notably their working hypothesis that axo-axonic cells can have a powerful excitatory effect by triggering complex neural network operations through specific binding involving GABA receptors. This is an exciting development because axo-axonic cells have been believed to be the most effective inhibitory neurons in the cortex. The project will also exploit the discovery by Tamás and colleagues that neurogliaform cells represent the first neuron type known to be capable of eliciting slow inhibition through GABA(B) receptors. This means that single neurogliaform cells have a similar function to several GABAergic neurons acting in synchrony. Over its six year course, this project is well placed to develop the team’s ground-breaking ideas on the role of single neurons within neural networks, with implications for our understanding of memory and cognitive functions.
Note: neurogliaform and axo-axonic cells are two types of cells that interconnect neurons. They both operate via receptors for GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid), which is an amino acid involved in transmission of neural impulses.
