Killam Seminar Series: Single-Cell Approaches to Studying Connectivity

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Israel

Single-Cell Approaches to Studying Connectivity and Neuronal States During Fear Learning

Abstract: In this seminar, Amit Zeisel will cover two topics investigated in his lab. The first part involves the generation of a comprehensive cellular taxonomy of the mouse amygdala. By employing single-cell RNA sequencing, his team has identified distinct neuronal subtypes and their specific transcriptional profiles. This work enables the mapping of cell-type-specific transcriptional responses during the consolidation of the fear conditioning process, providing insights into the molecular underpinnings of fear memory formation. In the second part, Amit Zeisel will introduce methods for constructing brain-wide monosynaptic connectivity maps. Utilizing a barcoded rabies virus, his lab has developed a novel approach to trace and map the synaptic connections of individual neurons across the brain.

Bio: B.Sc in Aerospace Engineering (2005), M.Sc in Civil and Environmental Engineering (2007) from Technion, Israel Instutite of Technology. PhD in computer Science and Applied Math from Weizmann Institute of Science (2012). Postdoc at Karolinska Institute (Stockholm) at Division for Molecular Neurobiology. Since 2018 Assistante Professor at Technion, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering.

Host or Publisher The Neuro