The Beck Group is interested in understanding how mammalian behaviors arise from the precisely orchestrated activity of neuronal ensembles. Their research focuses on the mechanisms that generate behaviorally relevant activity patterns across multiple scales, ranging from individual neurons to neuronal networks spanning different brain areas, with a particular emphasis on the hippocampus.

At the level of individual neurons, the group seeks to understand the fundamental features of input–output processing and how these processes are altered by inhibition or neuromodulation. To investigate this, they employ advanced techniques such as two-photon glutamate uncaging combined with electrophysiology, allowing them to study how neurons integrate complex spatial and temporal input patterns.

At the circuit level, the group is particularly interested in the remarkable ability of the hippocampal system to provide mice with salient information about their environment. Their research addresses questions such as how mice perceive subtle differences in their surroundings, how behaviorally relevant information is encoded in spatial maps, and how this information can later be retrieved and used to guide goal-directed behavior. To explore these questions, they use chronic in vivo two-photon imaging in head-fixed mice and, in collaboration with the group of T. Rose, in freely moving mice.

Some of their projects also focus on central nervous system (CNS) disorders and epilepsy. The renowned neurosurgeon and neuroscientist Wilder Penfield once stated, “The problem of neurology is to understand man himself.” In this spirit, the Beck Group believes that understanding CNS disorders requires a deep investigation of disease mechanisms across multiple levels of organization.

They therefore apply the approaches described above—at the levels of neurons, circuits, and behavior—to study the key manifestations of epilepsy.

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