FPU2023-Neural substrates of pathological gamma oscillations in brain diseases (GAMMAPATH)

The aim of this thesis will be to unravel the neural mechanisms of pathological gamma oscillations in mouse models of schizophrenia. We will combine in vivo electrophysiology with chemogenetics to generate and rescue pathological gamma oscillations during induced psychosis in mice. This work continues a long line of research of the group (Alemany-González et al., PNAS 2020; Gener et al., Neuropharmacology 2019; Delgado-Sallent et al., Cerebral Cortex 2022, Front Neural Circuits 2023). The candidate will have the opportunity to learn in vivo electrophysiology in freely moving mice, chemogenetics, programming in Python, mouse models of schizophrenia, and learning and memory assessment. The candidate will also use novel technology based on graphene to record and stimulate neural activity in collaboration with the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Viana et al., Nature Nanotech 2024). This thesis is associated with the project GAMMAPATH funded by the Spanish Research Agency (AEI) from 2023-2027. Our group combines Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, so candidates with background in biotechnology or similar are particularly welcome.