Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience

When predatory mammals chase prey saccades align the retina to world motion and not the actual thing they are chasing

Researchers are working to understand how vision comes together

Largest grant in the eight-year history of the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience

Advanced super-resolution imaging technology benefiting life sciences will now be available in the U.S.

Researchers from Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Duke University, and collaborators have identified a novel signaling system controlling neuronal plasticity

Everyday actions like speaking or swinging a tennis racket depend on precise timing. However, how the brain tracks time to decide when to initiate movement was unclear. We recently discovered an internal timer in the brain - two interconnected brain regions that work together like an hourglass to start movements at the right time. Discovering this internal timer provides a framework for understanding timing deficits in movement disorders.

Purposeful movement requires not only walking but also stopping at the correct time. While the neural mechanisms that control walking are well understood, those that control stopping remain largely unknown. Understanding how the brain and spinal cord regulate locomotion, including stopping, bears great potential to revolutionize movement rehabilitation, robotics, and treatments for movement disorders. Our research team recently discovered how neurons in the fly brain control stopping. We also found out that how a fly stops depends on why it stops.

Biological power plants called mitochondria are anchored near neuronal synapses to power their remodeling during memory formation. However, how mitochondria are locally stabilized was a mystery. We have recently discovered that the ALS - amyotrophic lateralsclerosis - linked protein VAP is a molecular anchor that tethers mitochondria near synapses to support memory formation. This finding opens new directions for research into cognitive and motor impairments in ALS.

The delayed execution of planned movement until a specific cue is essential for everyday behavior. For example, we wait until the traffic light turns green before turning. Now scientists have discovered how the brain uses an environmental cue, like a green light, to turn plans into action. This work offers insight into how brain activity is orchestrated to control complex behaviors. However, it also provides insight into the circuits that control cue-triggered movement, findings that may help optimize the treatment of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease.

Memory captures our daily experiences and shapes who we are. Yet our brain does not passively record individual moments, but internally processes these moments in the hippocampus, where they are linked into interconnected sequences of episodic memories. There, some neurons activate sequentially as an animal navigates through space or performs a memory task. As if the memory were being retraced, the same sequence reoccurs whenever the task is repeated.