Assoc. Prof. Balint Lasztoczi, PhD

Department(s): Department of Cognitive Neurobiology (Center for Brain Research)
Position: Research Assistant
Location: Spitalgasse 4
Telephone: 40160-34167
E-Mail:

Research Area:
Connectome, Neuroanatomy, Neurophysiology

Research Interests:
Electroencephalography Phase Synchronization, Hippocampus, Interneurons, Microscopy, Pyramidal Cells

Principle Investigator(s):

• Klausberger, Thomas

network oscillations

Abstract:

Electrical oscillations in the nervous system reflect the synchronized activity of neuronal assemblies. Synchronization can occur at a wide range of frequencies, dynamically changeing in a behaviour-contingent manner. GABAergic Cell types provide mainly local inhibition by giving rise to highly specialized ínnervation to different subcellular domains of substantial number of excitatory cells, and are thus capable of syncronizing the input and output of distal projecting excitatory cells. My aim is to understand how oscillations support cognitive processess such as memory encoding and retrieval, and navigation, and how specialized interneuron types contribute to the coordination of different oscillatory activities.  

Techniques:

Animal Models: anaesthetized rat in vivo,  and non-anaesthetised head-fixed mouse

Behaviour: Navigation tasks in virtual environment (linear mazes)

Recording ECoG and local field potential by glass and metal electrodes

Recording cellular (spike) activity with metal electrodes (tetrodes and silicon probes) or glass electrodes (juxtacellular recording and neurobiotin labelling)

Cell identification (histological analysis, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescent microscopy, cell reconstruction, electronmicroscopy)

Spike sorting

Analysis of oscillatory local field potential activities (phase-phase and phase-amplitude coupling, wavelet-based spectral analysis)

Analysis of spike timing (phase coupling to different network oscillations, behaviour-contigent changes in spike rate and spike timing)

Current source density analysis (multi-site local field potential recording, souce-sink localization) 

Selected Publications:

1. Lasztoczi B, Klausberger T. (2014) Layer-Specific GABAergic Control of Distinct Gamma Oscillations in the CA1 Hippocampus. Neuron, 81: 1126-1139
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2. Viney TJ, Lasztoczi B, Katona L, Crump MG, Tukker JJ, Klausberger T, Somogyi P. (2013) Network state-dependent inhibition of identified hippocampal CA3 axo-axonic cells in vivo. Nature Neurosci, 16: 1802-11
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3. Lapray D, Lasztoczi B, Lagler M, Viney TJ, Katona L, Valenti O, Hartwich K, Borhegyi Z, Somogyi P, Klausberger T, (2012) Behavior-dependent specialization of identified hippocampal interneurons. Nature Neurosci, 15: 1265-71
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4. Lasztoczi B, Tukker JJ, Somogyi P, Klausberger T, (2011) Terminal Field and Firing Selectivity of Cholecystokinin-Expressing Interneurons in the Hippocampal CA3 Area. J Neurosci, 31: 18073-93
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5. Lasztóczi B, Nyitrai G, Héja L, Kardos J, (2009) Synchronization of GABAergic inputs to CA3 pyramidal cells precedes seizure-like event onset in juvenile rat hippocampal slices. J. Neurophysiol., 102(4): 2538-53

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