Latest publications: Laboratory for Neural Computation

Vervaeke, K, Lorincz, A, Nusser, Z, Silver, RA. Gap junctions compensate for sublinear dendritic integration in an inhibitory network.
Science, 2012, Mar 30;335(6076)

Vervaeke, K, Lorincz, A., Gleeson, P., Farinella, M., Nusser, Z., and Silver, R.A.. Rapid desynchronization of an electrically coupled interneuron network with sparse excitatory synaptic input. Neuron, 2010, 67, 435-451.

Previewed by: Connors BW, Zolnik TA and Lee SC.
Enhanced functions of Electrical Junctions. Neuron, 2010, 67 (3) 354-356

Hu, H.*, Vervaeke, K.*, Graham, L.J., and Storm, J.F.. Complementary theta resonance filtering by two spatially segregated mechanisms in CA1 hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Journal of Neuroscience, 2009, 29, 14472-14483.

Gu, N., Hu, H., Vervaeke, K., and Storm, J.F.. SK (KCa2) channels do not control somatic excitability in CA1 pyramidal neurons but can be activated by dendritic excitatory synapses and regulate their impact.Journal of Neurophysiology, 2008, 100, 2589-2604.

Hu, H., Vervaeke, K., and Storm, J.F. M-channels (Kv7/KCNQ channels) that regulate synaptic integration, excitability, and spike pattern of CA1 pyramidal cells are located in the perisomatic region. Journal of Neuroscience, 2007, 27, 1853-1867.

Gu, N., Vervaeke, K., and Storm, J.F.. BK potassium channels facilitate high-frequency firing and cause early spike frequency adaptation in rat CA1 hippocampal pyramidal cells. Journal of Physiology, 2007, 580, 859-882.

Vervaeke, K.*, Hu, H.*, Graham, L.J., and Storm, J.F.. Contrasting effects of the persistent Na+ current on neuronal excitability and spike timing. Neuron, 2006, 49, 257-270.

Vervaeke, K., Gu, N., Agdestein, C., Hu, H., and Storm, J.F.. Kv7/KCNQ/M-channels in rat glutamatergic hippocampal axons and their role in regulation of excitability and transmitter release. Journal of Physiology, 2006, 576, 235-256.

Gu, N., Vervaeke, K., Hu, H., and Storm, J.F. Kv7/KCNQ/M and HCN/h, but not KCa2/SK channels, contribute to the somatic medium after-hyperpolarization and excitability control in CA1 hippocampal pyramidal cells. Journal of Physiology, 2005, 566, 689-715.

Hu, H., Vervaeke, K., and Storm, J.F.. Two forms of electrical resonance at theta frequencies, generated by M-current, h-current and persistent Na+ current in rat hippocampal pyramidal cells. Journal of Physiology, 2002, 545, 783-805.

Bookchapters

Storm JF, Vervaeke K, Hu H, Graham LJ. (2008). Functions of the persistent Na+ current in cortical neurons revealed by dynamic clamp. “Dynamic clamp: from principles to applications”, Springer Verlag, Alain Destexhe and Thierry Bal.

• Kriener, Birgit; Hu, Hua & Vervaeke, Koen Gerard Alois (2021). Parvalbumin interneuron dendrites enhance gamma oscillations. bioRxiv. ISSN 2692-8205. doi: 10.1101/2021.06.22.449483.
• Hagen, Espen; Chambers, Anna; Einevoll, Gaute; Pettersen, Klas Henning; Enger, Rune & Stasik, Alexander Johannes (2020). RippleNet: A Recurrent Neural Network for Sharp Wave Ripple (SPW-R) Detection. bioRxiv. ISSN 2692-8205. doi: 10.1101/2020.05.11.087874. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Hippocampal sharp wave ripples (SPW-R) have been identified as key bio-markers of important brain functions such as memory consolidation and decision making. SPW-R detection typically relies on hand-crafted feature extraction, and laborious manual curation is often required. In this multidisciplinary study, we propose a novel, self-improving artificial intelligence (AI) method in the form of deep Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) with Long Short-Term memory (LSTM) layers that can learn features of SPW-R events from raw, labeled input data. The algorithm is trained using supervised learning on hand-curated data sets with SPW-R events. The input to the algorithm is the local field potential (LFP), the low-frequency part of extracellularly recorded electric potentials from the CA1 region of the hippocampus. The output prediction can be interpreted as the time-varying probability of SPW-R events for the duration of the input. A simple thresholding applied to the output probabilities is found to identify times of events with high precision. The reference implementation of the algorithm, named ‘RippleNet’, is open source, freely available, and implemented using a common open-source framework for neural networks (tensorflow.keras) and can be easily incorporated into existing data analysis workflows for processing experimental data.

• Xu, Xiaxia; Hanganu-Opatz, Ileana L. & Bieler, Malte (2020). Cross-Talk of Low-Level Sensory and High-Level Cognitive Processing: Development, Mechanisms, and Relevance for Cross-Modal Abilities of the Brain. Frontiers in Neurorobotics. 14, p. 1–19. doi: 10.3389/fnbot.2020.00007. Full text in Research Archive
• Bojarskaite, Laura; Bjørnstad, Daniel Marelius; Pettersen, Klas Henning; Cunen, Celine; Hermansen, Gudmund Horn & Åbjørsbråten, Knut Sindre [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2020). Astrocytic Ca2+ signaling is reduced during sleep and is involved in the regulation of slow wave sleep. Nature Communications. ISSN 2041-1723. 11. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17062-2. Full text in Research Archive
• Kymre, Jonas Hansen; Berge, Christoffer Nerland; Chu, Xi; Ian, Elena & Berg, Bente Gunnveig (2020). Antennal-lobe neurons in the moth Helicoverpa armigera: Morphological features of projection neurons, local interneurons, and centrifugal neurons. Journal of Comparative Neurology. ISSN 0021-9967. 529(7), p. 1516–1540. doi: 10.1002/cne.25034. Full text in Research Archive
• Witoelar, Aree; Rongve, Arvid; Almdahl, Ina Selseth; Ulstein, Ingun; Engvig, Andreas & White, Linda Rosemary [Show all 33 contributors for this article] (2018). Meta-analysis of Alzheimer’s disease on 9,751 samples from Norway and IGAP study identifies four risk loci. Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322. 8. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36429-6. Full text in Research Archive
• Chambers, Anna; Pilati, Nadia; Balaram, Pooja; Large, Charles H; Kaczmarek, Leonard K & Polley, Daniel B. (2017). Pharmacological modulation of Kv3.1 mitigates auditory midbrain temporal processing deficits following auditory nerve damage. Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322. 7(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-17406-x.
• Hu, Hua & Vervaeke, Koen Gerard Alois (2017). Synaptic integration in cortical inhibitory neuron dendrites. Neuroscience. ISSN 0306-4522. 368, p. 115–131. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.06.065.
• Morland, Cecilie; Andersson, Krister; Haugen, Øyvind Pernell; Hadzic, Alena; Kleppa, Liv & Gille, Andreas [Show all 21 contributors for this article] (2017). Exercise induces cerebral VEGF and angiogenesis via the lactate receptor HCAR1. Nature Communications. ISSN 2041-1723. 8. doi: 10.1038/ncomms15557. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Physical exercise can improve brain function and delay neurodegeneration; however, the initial signal from muscle to brain is unknown. Here we show that the lactate receptor (HCAR1) is highly enriched in pial fibroblast-like cells that line the vessels supplying blood to the brain, and in pericyte-like cells along intracerebral microvessels. Activation of HCAR1 enhances cerebral vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and cerebral angiogenesis. High-intensity interval exercise (5 days weekly for 7 weeks), as well as L-lactate subcutaneous injection that leads to an increase in blood lactate levels similar to exercise, increases brain VEGFA protein and capillary density in wild-type mice, but not in knockout mice lacking HCAR1. In contrast, skeletal muscle shows no vascular HCAR1 expression and no HCAR1-dependent change in vascularization induced by exercise or lactate. Thus, we demonstrate that a substance released by exercising skeletal muscle induces supportive effects in brain through an identified receptor. Editorial summary: Physical exercise promotes brain angiogenesis through an unknown signalling cascade. Morland et al. identify the elusive muscle-brain communication and show that lactate produced by muscle activity binds to its receptor HCAR1 in brain vessel-surrounding cells, stimulating VEGF production and brain angiogenesis.

• Rinholm, Johanne Egge; Vervaeke, Koen Gerard Alois; Tadross, Michael; Tkachuk, Ariana; Kopek, Benjamin & Brown, Timothy A [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2016). Movement and structure of mitochondria in oligodendrocytes and their myelin sheaths. Glia. ISSN 0894-1491. 64(5), p. 810–825. doi: 10.1002/glia.22965. Show summary

  Mitochondria play several crucial roles in the life of oligodendrocytes. During development of the myelin sheath they are essential providers of carbon skeletons and energy for lipid synthesis. During normal brain function their consumption of pyruvate will be a key determinant of how much lactate is available for oligodendrocytes to export to power axonal function. Finally, during calcium-overload induced pathology, as occurs in ischemia, mitochondria may buffer calcium or induce apoptosis. Despite their important functions, very little is known of the properties of oligodendrocyte mitochondria, and mitochondria have never been observed in the myelin sheaths. We have now used targeted expression of fluorescent mitochondrial markers to characterize the location and movement of mitochondria within oligodendrocytes. We show for the first time that mitochondria are able to enter and move within the myelin sheath. Within the myelin sheath the highest number of mitochondria was in the cytoplasmic ridges along the sheath. Mitochondria moved more slowly than in neurons and, in contrast to their behavior in neurons and astrocytes, their movement was increased rather than inhibited by glutamate activating NMDA receptors. By electron microscopy we show that myelin sheath mitochondria have a low surface area of cristae, which suggests a low ATP production. These data specify fundamental properties of the oxidative phosphorylation system in oligodendrocytes, the glial cells that enhance cognition by speeding action potential propagation and provide metabolic support to axons.

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• Kriener, Birgit (2020). Robust parallel decision-making in neural circuits with nonlinear inhibition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. ISSN 0027-8424. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1917551117.
• Vervaeke, Koen Gerard Alois; Hu, Hua & Kriener, Birgit (2019). Dendritic properties of parvalbumin interneurons enhance robustness of gamma oscillations.
• Berge, Christoffer Nerland; Kymre, Jonas Hansen; Chu, Xi & Berg, Bente Gunnveig (2018). Structure and function of individual projection neurons and centrifugal neurons in the male moth brain.
• Hovde, Karoline; Gianatti, Michele; Witter, Menno & Whitlock, Jonathan (2018). Architecture and organization of mouse posterior parietal cortex relative to extrastriate areas.
• Hovde, Karoline; Gianatti, Michele; Witter, Menno & Whitlock, Jonathan (2018). Reconciling the anatomical locus of the mouse posterior parietal cortex by architectural delineation and connectivity.
• Chaudhuri, Rishidev; Kriener, Birgit & Fiete, Ila (2018). How fast is neural winner-take-all when deciding between many options?
• Kriener, Birgit (2018). On the speed of decision-making with multiple alternatives.
• Kriener, Birgit; Hu, Hua & Vervaeke, Koen Gerard Alois (2018). Stabilization of gamma oscillations in basket cell networks: the role of dendritic attenuation.
• Kriener, Birgit (2018). The role of strong synapses in the making and breaking of synchrony.
• Kriener, Birgit; Hu, Hua & Vervaeke, Koen Gerard Alois (2018). Dendritic properties of parvalbumin interneurons enhance robustness of gamma oscillations.
• Kriener, Birgit (2017). BartosEtAl2002.
• Kriener, Birgit (2017). NorenbergEtAl2010_DGBasketCell.
• Andersson, Krister; Morland, Cecilie; Haugen, Øyvind Pernell; Hadzic, Alena; Kleppa, Liv & Gille, Andreas [Show all 21 contributors for this article] (2017). Exercise benefits brain through the lactate receptor HCAR1, increasing VEGF and capillary density in hippocampus and cortex. Show summary

  While physical exercise is known to improve brain function and delay neurodegeneration, the signal from muscle to brain has not been identified. We show here that the lactate receptor, hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 1 (HCAR1 also known as GPR81), mediates exercise induced increase in the content of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and in capillary density in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Mice were subjected to high intensity interval exercise 5 days per week for 7 weeks. Increases in VEGFA and capillary density were observed in wild-type (wt) mice, but not in knockout (ko) mice lacking HCAR1. Subcutaneous injections of L-lactate 5 days per week for 7 weeks, to achieve intermittently high blood lactate levels comparable to those after exercise, reproduced the findings in wt mice. No changes were observed in ko mice. The intermittent nature of the stimulation may be important since continuously high extracellular lactate has previously been observed to down-regulate HCAR1. To our knowledge, the present finding is the first demonstration that a substance released by exercising skeletal muscle induces supportive effects in brain through an identified receptor. No changes in VEGFA or capillary density were observed in the cerebellar cortex. HCAR1 was highly expressed in pial fibroblast-like cells that line the vessels supplying blood to the brain, and in fibroblast-/pericyte-like cells along intracerebral microvessels. These cells are strategically placed to monitor changes in blood-born lactate as well as in brain extracellular lactate (which equilibrate across the vascular endothelium via monocarboxylate transporter 1). Skeletal muscle showed no vascular HCAR1 expression and no HCAR1-dependent change in vascularization induced by exercise or lactate. As VEGFA governs neuronal functions such as LTP as well as vascular growth, the increases may have direct effects on neurons as well as indirect effects through enhancement of vascularization. Both disturbed vascularization and impaired synaptic function are components of the pathogenesis in neurodegenerative dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease. The lactate receptor HCAR1 may prove a useful nutraceutical target for intervention in persons at risk for dementia who are unable to exercise sufficiently to achieve optimal HCAR1 stimulation through rises in blood lactate.

• Morland, Cecilie; Andersson, Krister; Haugen, Øyvind Pernell; Hadzic, Alena; Kleppa, Liv & Gille, Andreas [Show all 18 contributors for this article] (2016). A novel mechanism for cerebral angiogenesis via lactate receptor HCAR1 at pial vessels.
• Morland, Cecilie; Andersson, Krister; Haugen, Øyvind Pernell; Hadzic, Alena; Kleppa, Liv & Gille, Andreas [Show all 18 contributors for this article] (2016). Exercise induces cerebral angiogenesis via lactate receptor HCAR1 at pial vessels.
• Hobbi Mobarhan, Milad; Einevoll, Gaute; Geir, Halnes; Vervaeke, Koen Gerard Alois & Fyhn, Marianne (2015). Roles of cortical feedback in lateral geniculate nucleus.
• Dragly, Svenn-Arne; Ness, Torbjørn Vefferstad; Vervaeke, Koen Gerard Alois & Einevoll, Gaute (2015). Discovering extracellular signatures by modeling of local field potentials.

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