Sensorimotor Integration in the Whisker System

1.         Introduction

            Alexander Groh and Patrik Krieger

Part I: Whisker System in Mammals

2.         Comparative Studies of Somatosensory Systems and Active Sensing

            Kenneth C. Catania and Elizabeth H. Catania

Part II: Building Blocks of the Whisker System

3.         The Whisker Thalamus

            Manuel Castro-Alamancos

4.         Synaptic Microcircuits in the Barrel Cortex

            Dirk Feldmeyer, Gabriele Radnikow, and Quanxiao Qi

5.         Imaging the Cortical Representation of Active Sensing in the Vibrissa System

            Fritjof Helmchen and Jerry L. Chen

6.         The Rodent Vibrissal System as a Model to Study Motor Cortex Function

            Cornelius Schwarz and Shubhodeep Chakrabarti

7.         The Central Pattern Generator for Rhythmic Whisking

            David Kleinfeld, Martin Deschênes, and Jeffrey D. Moore

Part III: Computations of the Whisker System

8.         Functional principles of Whisker-mediated Touch Perception

            Miguel Maravall and Mathew E.

Patrik Krieger received his Ph.D. from Karolinska Institutet and then worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Bert Sakmann at the Max Planck Institute, Heidelberg. He is currently Head of the Department of Systems Neuroscience at the Ruhr-University Bochum. His research spans over both sensory and motor systems aiming to provide an understanding of how both systems interact during sensory-guided behavior. This research is done using a combination of electrophysiology and behavioural experiments where the activity of genetically labeled cell types has been modified to reveal the cell type specific contributions to sensorimotor integration. Furthermore, his research includes studies on the impact of sensory deprivation and cortical plasticity on tactile information processing. In addition he works on developing analytical tools for quantitative analysis of neuroanatomy.

Alexander Groh received his Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg and worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Bert Sakmann at the Technische Universität München. His research focuses on the thalamocortical system, which he studies to understand cognitive functions, in particular sensory and motor processing. He is specifically interested in cortical feedback connections to the thalamus, and their role in controlling the flow of information through thalamocortical circuits. After characterizing the synaptic physiology and adaptation of corticothalamic "driver" pathways in the rat whisker system, he applied cell-type specific approaches to characterize the impact of cortical feedback pathways on sensory processing the thalamocortical system. He currently develops methods to explore the functions of corticothalamic interactions in behavior.