Gähwiler, Beat

FENS-IBRO European Neuroscience Schools Programme Committee Member

Beat Gähwiler
Brain Research Institute
University of Zurich
CH-8057 Zurich
Switzerland
Phone: +41 44 635 33 50
E-mail: gahwiler@hifo.uzh.ch

Personal

Date and place: 10 February 1940
Citizenship: Swiss
Civil status: Married

Major research interests

Neurophysiology, hippocampal physiology and morphology, synaptic plasticity, epilepsy

Present position

Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience

Curriculum Vitae

Education

1969
PhD, Biophysics, University of Basel, Switzerland
1979
Habilitation, Cell biology, University of Basel, Switzerland

Professional experience

1970
Postdoctoral fellow, University of California, Berkeley, USA
1971
Lecturer, Membrane Biophysics, University of California Berkeley
1973
Research Associate, Sandoz Ltd., Basel, Switzerland
1976
Visiting scientist, Australian National University, Caberra
1980
Visiting scientist, Washington University, Seattle, USA
1987
Professor of Neuroscience, Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich, Switzerland as co-director/director of the Institute
1996
Newton-Abraham Visiting Professor, University of Oxford, UK
2003
Visiting scientist, University of Seville, Spain
2005 - present
Emeritus Professor Neuroscience, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Awards

1988
Robert Bing-Prize of the Swiss Academy of Medicine
1990
Prize of the Hildegard Doerenkamp Gerhard Zbinden Foundation

Selected Publications

  • Gähwiler, B.H. (1976). Inhibitory action of noradrenaline and cyclic AMP in explants of rat cerebellum. Nature. 259(5543):483-484.
  • Gähwiler, B.H. (1981). Organotypic monolayer cultures of nervous tissue. J Neurosci Meth. 4(4):329-342.
  • Baertschi, A.J., Beny, J.L., Gähwiler, B.H. (1982). Hypo¬thalamic paraventricular nucleus is a priviledged site for brain-pituitary interactions in long-term tissue culture. Nature. 295:145-147.
  • Muehlethaler, M., Dreifuss, J.J., Gähwiler, B.H. (1982). Vasopressin excites hippocampal neurones. Nature 296(5859):749-751.
  • Gähwiler, B.H. (1984). Develop¬ment of the hippocampus in vitro: cell types, synapses and receptors. Neuroscience. 11(4):751-760.
  • Gähwiler, B.H., Brown, D.A. (1985). Functional innervation of cultured hippocampal neurones by cholinergic afferents from co-cultured septal explants. Nature. 313(6003):577-579.
  • Gähwiler, B.H., Brown, D.A. (1985). GABAB-receptor-activated K+ current in voltage-clamped CA3 pyramidal cells in hippocampal cultures. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 82(5):1558-1562.
  • Gähwiler, B.H., Brown, D.A. (1985). GABAB-receptor-activated K+ current in voltage-clamped CA3 pyramidal cells in hippocampal cultures. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 82(5):1558-1562.
  • Gähwiler, B.H. (1988). Organotypic cultures of neural tissue. Trends Neurosci. 11(11):484-489.
  • Thompson, S.M., Gähwiler, B.H. (1989). Activity-dependent disinhi¬bition. I. Repetitive stimulation reduces IPSP driving force and conductance in the hippocampus in vitro. J Neurophysiol. 61(3):501-511.
  • Gähwiler, B.H., Llano, I. (1989). Sodium and potassium conductances in somatic membranes of rat Purkinje cells from organotypic cerebellar cultures. J Physiol (Lond). 417:105-122.
  • Charpak, S., Gähwiler, B.H., Do, K.Q., Knöpfel, T. (1990). Potassium conductances in hippocampal neurons blocked by excitatory amino-acid transmitters. Nature 347(6295):765-767.
  • Scanziani, M., Capogna, M., Gähwiler, B.H., Thompson, S.M. (1992). Presynaptic inhibition of miniature excitatory synaptic currents by baclofen and adenosine in the hippocampus. Neuron 9(5):919-927.
  • Gerber, U., Lüthi, A., Gähwiler, B.H. (1993). Inhibition of a slow synaptic response by a metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonist in hippocampal CA3 pyramidal cells. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 254(1340):169-172.
  • Debanne, D., Gähwiler, B.H., Thompson, S.M. (1994). Asynchronous pre- and postsynaptic activity induces associative long-term depression in area CA1 of the rat hippocampus in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91(3):1148-1152.
  • Bossu, J.L., Gähwiler, B.H. (1996). Distinct modes of channel gating underlie inactivation of somatic K+ current in rat hippocampal pyramidal cells in vitro. J Physiol (Lond). 495 ( Pt 2):383-397.
  • Mouginot, D., Bossu, J.L., Gähwiler, B.H. (1997). Low-threshold Ca2+ currents in dendritic recordings from Purkinje cells in rat cerebellar slice cultures. J Neurosci. 17(1):160-170.
  • McKinney, R.A., Debanne, D., Gähwiler, B.H., Thompson, S.M. (1997). Lesion-induced axonal sprouting and hyperexcitability in the hippocampus in vitro: implications for the genesis of posttraumatic epilepsy. Nat Med. 3(9):990-996.
  • Debanne, D., Guerineau, N.C., Gähwiler, B.H., Thompson, S.M. (1997). Action-potential propagation gated by an axonal IA-like K+ conductance in hippocampus. Nature. 389(6648):286-289.
  • Gähwiler, B.H., Capogna, M., Debanne, D., McKinney, R.A., Thompson, S.M. (1997). Organotypic slice cultures: a technique has come of age. Trends Neurosci. 20(10):471-477.
  • McKinney, R.A., Capogna, M., Dürr, R., Gähwiler, B.H., Thompson, S.M. (1999). Miniature synaptic events maintain dendritic spines via AMPA receptor activation. Nat Neurosci. Jan;2(1):44-9.
  • Ehrengruber, M.U., Lundstrom, K., Schweitzer, C., Heuss, C., Schlesinger, S., Gähwiler, B.H. (1999). Recombinant Semliki Forest virus and Sindbis virus efficiently infect neurons in hippocampal slice cultures. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96(12):7041-7046.
  • Lüthi, A., Schwyzer, L., Mateos, J.M., Gähwiler, B.H., McKinney, R.A. (2001). NMDA receptor activation limits the number of synaptic connections during hippocampal development. Nat Neurosci. 4(11):1102-7.
  • Savic, N., Lüthi, A., Gähwiler, B.H., McKinney R.A. (2003). N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor blockade during development lowers long-term potentiation threshold without affecting dynamic range of CA3-CA1 synapses. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 100(9):5503-8.
  • Mori M, Abegg MH, Gahwiler BH, Gerber U. (2004). A frequency-dependent switch from inhibition to excitation in a hippocampal unitary circuit. Nature 23;431(7007):453-6.
  • Raineteau, O., Rietschin, L., Gradwohl, G., Guillemot, F., Gähwiler, B.H. (2004). Neurogenesis in hippocampal slice cultures. Mol Cell Neurosci. 26(2): 241-250.
  • Abegg, M.H., Savic, N., Ehrengruber, M.U., McKinney, R,A., Gähwiler, B.H. (2004). Epileptiform activity in rat hippocampus strengthens excitatory synapses. J Physiol. (Lond.) 15;554: 439-448.
  • Richards D.A., Mateos, J.M., Hugel, S., de Paola, V., Caroni, P., Gähwiler, B.H. McKinney RA. (2005) Glutamate induces the rapid formation of spine head protrusions in hippocampal slice cultures. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102(17): 6166-71.
  • Raineteau, O., Hugel, S., Ozen, I.., Rietschin, L., Sigrist, M., Arber, S., Gähwiler, B.H. (2006). Conditional labeling of newborn granule cells to visualize their integration into established circuits in hippocampal slice cultures. Mol Cell Neurosci 32(4): 344-55.
  • Mori, M., Gähwiler, B.H., Gerber, U (2007). Recruitment of an inhibitory hippocampal network after bursting in a single granule cell. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 18: 7640-45.