Title : Neuroscience of the small and large : from engineered neural networks to brain organoids.
In order to understand how the brain works, one needs to track how complex cognitive functions such as learning, memory and decision making emerge at large scales from local neuron-neuron interactions.
I will present two projects from my research tackling both ends of the complexity scale. In the first, I will show how small networks of primary rat neurons can be assembled reproducibly in precise connectivity networks thanks to microstructures. Combining this technology with micro-electrode-arrays, it is possible to study plasticity (learning) effects in small networks of neurons, which is fundamental if we are to understand how they change and learn over time.
in the second project , I will present a mesh-electrode-array technology I have developed to interface long-term a much larger system, a human brain organoids, where the focus is on collective dynamics of the brain and potentially therapeutic applications.
The talk will be made accessible for any background.
CV:
Dr. Forro is a Marie-Curie Sklodowska Global Postdoctoral Fellow with a joint appointment at Stanford University (USA) and Forschungszentrum Juelich (Germany).
He obtained his Master's degree from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) in Physics, with a focus on theoretical physics in the field of topological insulators. He then embarked on a doctoral thesis at Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule Zurich (ETH, Switzerland) where he obtained his PhD under the superivision of Prof. Voros in the field of experimental neuroscience in an attempt to understand how neurons learn.
Currently, his research interests lie in developing novel measurement technologies to interface stem-cell derived human brain organoids which he pursues in the groups of Professor Bianxiao Cui (Stanford) and Professor Francesca Santoro (Forschungszentrum Juelich).
