[Pinn Hall 1-17] Hosted by Mark Beenhakker, Christophe Bernard, PhD is Director of the Physiology & Physiopathology of Neuronal Networks Group(PhysioNet), Institut de Neurosciences des Systemes. After an initial training in theoretical physics and mathematics, he did a Ph.D. on “Theoretical and experimental analysis of cellular activity in the cerebellum”. He then did a Post Doc in Southampton University with Howard Wheal on synaptic plasticity in an experimental model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Since then, his activity has been focused on the mechanisms underlying the construction of an epileptic brain. He has been awarded with the Michael Prize in 2007.
Focus of the Physiology & Physiopathology of Neuronal Networks Group (PhysioNet) that Dr. Bernard Leads:
The principal objective is to understand how physiological and pathological behaviors emerge from the organization and the reorganization of the underlying neuronal architecture.
The group’s research is structured around five themes:
1. Cell/network dynamics and learning in physiological and pathological conditions (in epileptic patients, monkeys and rodents)
2. Mechanisms leading to the construction of an epileptic brain (in epileptic patients, monkeys and rodents)
3. Anatomo-functional organization of normal and epileptic networks (in epileptic patients, monkeys and rodents)
4.Coupling between metabolism, chloride homeostasis and cell/network function (in rodents)
5. (NEW) Neuroengineering: this research field is developed by a new group inside Physionet, lead by Dr. Adam Williamson, recipient of the ERC Starting Grant 2016
Six sub-groups explore different aspects of these themes:
Human epilepsies (PI: F. Bartolomei)
Dynamics of cells and networks (PI: C. Bernard)
Structural and Neurochemical properties of neuronal networks (PI: M. Esclapez)
Metabolism and Neuroprotection (PI: Y. Zilberter)
Dynamics of chloride homeostasis (PI: P. Brest)
Neuroengineering (PI: A. Williamson)
Cognitive processes depend upon the activity of distributed networks in the brain. Our main goal is to further our understanding of the basic rules of neuronal activity in given behavioral states in physiological conditions, and how these rules are modified in epilepsy. Under this theme, we are trying to understand how different brain regions communicate to each other and exchange information, using multisite in vivo recordings in normal and epileptic animals. Brain trajectories are analyzed under various behavioral conditions. This work is done in close collaboration with the TNG team of V. Jirsa. One level down, we are trying to understand how neurons are connected to each other functionally in vivo, using silicon probe recordings in normal and epileptic animals. Our goal is to understand the dynamics of the connectivity maps between the temporal lobe and its connected areas.