Volkmar Leßmann

Head of the Institute of Physiology at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

Using electrophysiology, fluorescence microcopy and behavioral analysis we investigate the cellular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity that underlie learning and memory. We focus on mechanisms of LTP that depend on synaptic release of BDNF and dopamine. Using BDNF-GFP we determine the molecular regulation of BDNF exocytosis from LDCV. We recently generated a knockin mouse model expressing BDNF-GFP under the control of the endogenous BDNF promotor to analyze BDNF release. We could show that postsynaptic BDNF release is instructive for STDP in CA1 of the hippocampus and that BDNF signaling via postsynaptic TrkB receptors enables LTP in amygdala circuits. Our behavioral data reveal that BDNF availability regulates hippocampus-dependent and amygdala-dependent learning. In collaboration with clinical colleagues we analyze BDNF blood content in humans suffering from depression, schizophrenia, or dementia. Using an Alzheimer disease (AD) mouse model we investigate how enhancing brain BDNF levels by pharmacological or behavioral stimulation can counteract memory deficits in AD mice, and how this is paralleled by altered LTP mechanisms in AD mice.

Keywords: synaptic plasticity – STDP – Learning and memory – BDNF release – Alzheimer disease

Location: OVGU (FME)

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