Dr. Guy Major
Based at the Neuroscience Group, School of Biosciences
Research Keywords
Dendritic computation, 2-photon calcium imaging, patterned uncaging, small neural networks
Research Interests and Facilities
Imaging Dendritic Function and Neural Network Activity in Cerebral Cortex:
Two-photon microscopy and patterned neurotransmitter uncaging allow us to simultaneously record from and stimulate multiple neurons or multiple branches of individual neurons, in brain slices and in intact animals. We are using these optical techniques in conjunction with electrical recordings and computer modelling to investigate the computational roles of dendrites and the encoding of information in the cerebral cortical neural network.
Our group’s multi-disciplinary lab space includes a pump laser, 2 pulsed lasers, a 2-photon microscope rig with patterned glutamate uncaging and dual pipette patch clamp capability and ancillary equipment. We plan to build another 2-photon microscope in the near future, sharing the lasers. We have genotyping and histology facilities, and access to university computing facilties for detailed compartmental model and neural network simulations using NEURON and Matlab.
Available PhD Projects
- Two-photon calcium imaging of computations performed by thin dendrites of cortical neurons in vivo.
- Directional selectivity of individual terminal dendrites probed by patterned 2-photon glutamate uncaging and calcium imaging.
- Assessing spike-timing codes in cerebral cortex by fast 2-photon calcium imaging.
Publications
- Major G, Baker R , Aksay E, Mensh B, Seung HS, Tank DW (2004). Plasticity and tuning by visual feedback of the stability of a neural integrator. PNAS. 101: 7739-7744.
- Major G, Baker R , Aksay E, Seung HS, Tank DW (2004). Plasticity and tuning of the time course of analog persistent firing in a neural integrator. PNAS. 101: 7745-7750.
- Häusser MA, Major G, and Stuart GJ (2001). Differential shunting of EPSPs by action potentials.Science 291: 138-141.
- Schiller J, Major G, Koester HK and Schiller I (2000). NMDA spikes in basal dendrites of cortical pyramidal neurons. Nature404: 285-289.
- Antic S, Major G and Zecevic D (1999). Fast optical recordings of membrane potential changes from dendrites of pyramidal neurons. J. Neurophysiol.82: 1615-21.