University of Southern California

USC Neuroscience

Tansu Celikel

Assistant Professor, Neurobiology

Research Topics

  1. Development of unsupervised robotic hardware for high throughput animal training in tactile decision-making tasks.
  2. Dissecting neural circuits controlling somatosensory topographic map reorganization and tactile decision-making using spatially restricted, temporally gated neural (in)activation techniques.
  3. Electrical and optical reconstruction of the cortical column to understand the local circuits subserving somatosensory map reorganization.
  4. 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

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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