Tansu Celikel
Assistant Professor, Neurobiology

Research Topics
- Development of unsupervised robotic hardware for high throughput animal training in tactile decision-making tasks.
- Dissecting neural circuits controlling somatosensory topographic map reorganization and tactile decision-making using spatially restricted, temporally gated neural (in)activation techniques.
- Electrical and optical reconstruction of the cortical column to understand the local circuits subserving somatosensory map reorganization.
- Understanding the neural codes underlying somatosensory map reorganization by large-scale 3D electrophysiological recordings in awake behaving animals.
Research Overview
Topographic representations in the primary sensory cortices are believed to be the neural basis of sensory perception. These representations are continuously altered during learning and after sensory organ loss. Despite their role in sensory information processing, the mechanisms by which they are modified is still unknown. The major goal of our lab is to describe the neural circuits and the synaptic mechanisms responsible for the development and maintenance of the sensory representations using in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological recordings, imaging, computerized behavioral trainings and molecular biological methods.Contact Information
- Web Sites:
- Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Plasticity
Community of Science page
Celikel's Neurofamily - E-mail:
- celikel@usc.edu
- Mailing Address:
- 3641 Watt Way
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520 - Office Location:
- HNB507
- Office Phone:
- (213) 740-3461
- Lab Location:
- HNB503
- Lab Phone:
- (213) 740-6471
- Fax:
- (213) 740-6667
Education
- Ph.D: La Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (1998-2001)
- Postdoctoral training: University of California, San Diego (2001-2003)
- Postdoctoral training: Max-Planck Institute for Medical Research (2004-2007)
Research Images
Selected Publications
View a complete Google Scholar search
Voigts, J., Sakmann, B., and Celikel, T. (2008) Unsupervised whisker tracking in unrestrained behaving animals. Journal of Neurophysiology 100:504-515. -Link
Clem, R., Celikel, T., and Barth, A.L. (2008) Ongoing in vivo experience triggers synaptic metaplasticity in the neocortex. Science 319(5859):101-104. -Link
Celikel, T., Marx, V., Freudenberg, F, Resnik, E., Zivkovic, A., Rozov, A., Licznerski, P., Osten, P., Hasan, M., Seeburg, P., and Schwarz, M. (2007) Sustained Homer1a expression impairs LTP, spatial working memory but not spatial reference memory. Frontiers in Neuroscience 1:97-110 -Link
Celikel, T., and Sakmann, B. (2007) Sensory integration across space and in time for decision-making. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 104:1395-1400. -Link
Foeller, E., Celikel, T., and Feldman, D.E. (2005) Altered inhibitory sculpting of receptive fields contributes to whisker map plasticity in rat somatosensory cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 94:4387-4401. -Link
Celikel, T., Szostak, V., and Feldman, D.E. (2004) Modulation of spike timing by sensory deprivation during induction of cortical map plasticity. Nature Neuroscience 7:534-541. -Link
Feldman, D.E., Allen, C.B., and Celikel, T. (2004) LTD, spike timing, and somatosensory cortex plasticity. In Excitatory-Inhibitory balance: Synapses, circuits, and systems plasticity. Edited by T. Hensch and M. Fagiolini, Kluwer Academic Press. -Link
Allen, C.B., Celikel, T., and Feldman, D.E. (2003) Long-term depression induced by sensory deprivation during cortical map plasticity in vivo. Nature Neuroscience 6:291-299. -Link


