Jean-Christophe Cassel

Jean-Christophe Cassel was born on July 22^nd, 1962, in Strasbourg (France). He got his PhD in 1990 and his qualification for a professorship in 2000, both at the University of Strasbourg. He has been researcher (1991-2002) and research director (2002-2009) at CNRS, before becoming professor at the University of Strasbourg (in 2009). He spent two years as an Alexander von Humboldt fellow at the Institut of Pharmacology of the University of Freibug-im-Breisgau (1991 and 2002). He is head of the LNCA since January 2013. In this laboratory, the research group he is co-heading with Dr Anne-Laurence Boutillier aims to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of memory systems in the rat, especially of trace consolidation and retrieval mechanisms, including at molecular and systems levels. He is co-author on about 180 publications in international peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Memories hold where we come from, define who we are and construct our projects. Beside other cognitive implications (strategy selection, encoding of memory details), the reuniens and rhomboid nuclei of the ventral midline of the thalamus play a crucial role in consolidation of memories at systems-level, hence in their persistence. This is related to their connectivity with the medial prefontal cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus. Our project will focus on the interplay between the ventral midline nuclei rhomboid and reuniens and memory functions, which are dependent on their reciprocal connections with the hippocampus and mPFC. Our hypothesis is that the precision or/and vividness over time of recent memory traces will be differentially affected by electrical stimulation of the nucleus rhomboid/reuniens due to the effects of DBS. The project aims to i) refine the targeting of the rhomboid and reuniens nuclei in a rat model, ii) develop and construct flexible stimulation devices, iii) set up stimulation parameters for DBS, iv) test these parameters in the rat model and measure their effects using functional imaging (immediate early gene expression), electrophysiological recording and memory tests (in the double-H and Morris water mazes). Knowledge gained from this study may provide a platform for recovery of function approaches in humans suffering amnesia as a consequence of e.g., stroke or neurodegenerative diseases.