Our main interest is how neural networks of the brain support its cognitive capacities. We aim at providing rational mechanistic explanations of adaptative control of behavior.
Procedural learning corresponds to the acquisition of skills through repeated performance and practice of a behavior in response to external cues, such as biking or playing an instrument. Basal ganglia, a set of subcortical nuclei, participate in the detection of environmental cues and in the selection of appropriate actions based on motivation and reward, thanks to their reciprocal connections to the cerebral cortex, thalamic nuclei and limbic system. Cortex-basal ganglia-thalamus loops are involved in the adaptive control of behavior and are the main substrate for procedural learning.
We focus our studies on dissecting (in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics, 2-photon imaging) the processing of information in cortico-basal ganglia circuits, from sub-cellular to neural network levels. We are also focusing on how these processes are impaired in Parkinson’s disease and into the development of an alternative therapeutic (onto-stimulation of cortical interneurons) inspired by deep brain stimulation.
Our team (“Dynamic and Physiopathology of Neuronal Networks”) is part of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CNRS-UMR 7241 / INSERM U1050) located in the Collège de France in Paris, and is affiliated to PSL University.
Venance lab 