Freal Lab

Research focus

ERC Starting Grant · 2023

Axon Initial Segment plasticity: unravelling the mechanisms that control neuronal excitability

Neurons have the remarkable ability to continuously integrate and propagate information while maintaining their activity state within physiological range. The axon initial segment (AIS) is the keystone of neuronal excitability and pivotal for the maintenance of network homeostasis. The molecular organization of the AIS dictates the generation of action potentials, and thereby shapes the principal output of neurons. Although the AIS has long been considered as a static and passive structure, recent work from my lab and others demonstrated that network activity induces robust plasticity of the AIS, causing long-lasting changes in excitability. However, how AIS plasticity is regulated to…

From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.