Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 pm
Location: Building 46, Seminar Room 3189

Talk Title: Early Spontaneous Activity and Post-Transcriptional Regulation in Neocortical Circuit Assembly

Abstract: 

Our laboratory investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms that govern the formation and plasticity of neuronal circuits across development, physiological states, and disease. A central focus is the role of post-transcriptional regulation in shaping the wiring of the developing mouse neocortex.

In the mammalian brain, the assembly of sensory cortical circuits is largely completed by the onset of sensory experience, with cortical neurons already exhibiting selective response properties that undergo only limited refinement thereafter. Prior to sensory input, however, all sensory systems generate spontaneous patterned activity that propagates through ascending pathways to primary cortical areas. In parallel, transcriptional programs specify neuronal identity, guide axonal projections, and may encode wiring specificity. While the spatiotemporal structure of spontaneous activity is thought to critically influence circuit assembly, the molecular mechanisms through which it acts remain poorly understood.

Here, I will present our recent work on the development of circuitry in the mouse primary visual cortex. By combining long-read transcript isoform profiling, CAGE-seq, and longitudinal in vivo two-photon calcium imaging in neonatal mice, we identify molecular pathways linking spontaneous activity to the emergence of mature neuronal function. Our findings demonstrate that early activity patterns instruct the functional properties of V1 neurons revealed after eye opening. Furthermore, we uncover a developmental switch in postnatal transcriptional programs that enables the transition from early developmental to sensory-driven gene regulation.

Together, this work provides new insight into how intrinsic activity and gene regulatory mechanisms interact to shape cortical circuit assembly and plasticity.

Bio:

Peter Scheiffele trained at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Heidelberg, and performed postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco. He was an Assistant Professor at Columbia University, New York. Since 2008, he is a professor at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, Switzerland. His laboratory discovered molecular mechanisms of neuronal synapse formation and established a key contribution of post-transcriptional regulation – in particular RNA alternative splicing and mRNA translation - in synapse specification and the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorders.