Michael Häusser

A Fellow of the Royal Society, as well as a Principal Research Fellow of the Wellcome Trust and member of Academia Europaea, Prof. Häusser's main research interest is the cellular basis of neural computation in the brain, with a special focus on the role of dendrites. His group has helped pioneer optical and electrophysiological methods for probing the function of neural circuits in the intact brain. After receiving his PhD from Oxford University, Prof. Häusser joined Nobel Laureate Bert Sakmann at the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany, and Philippe Ascher at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, France. He established his own laboratory at UCL in 1997 and became Professor of Neuroscience in 2001. With his ERC Advanced Grant, Prof. Häusser is investigating how dendrites, the receiving elements of neurons, can act as computational devices, and how they are engaged within neural circuits during behaviour. To address this fundamental question, he and his team will exploit a range of innovative imaging, recording, and optogenetic technologies that will allow them to both record and manipulate dendrites and neural circuits during behaviour. This approach will provide invaluable insights into how single neurons act as computing devices, and how the computations that drive behaviour are implemented in single cells and neural circuits.