Andreas Lüthi
Group News
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Jun 20, 2022 Andreas Lüthi receives SNSF Advanced Grant |
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Jan 6, 2022 The neuronal mechanism behind motivation |
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Jul 16, 2021 Berner Forscher finden wichtige Schaltkreise für Angstregulierung |
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May 26, 2021 ‘Tug of war’ between neurons tells the brain when to fear — and when not to be afraid |
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Mar 3, 2021 'Brain state' behind social interaction uncovered |
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Andreas Lüthi
Cellular mechanisms of learning and memory
Experience-dependent changes in behavior are mediated by long-term functional modifications in brain circuits. We are interested in understanding the underlying mechanisms at the molecular, cellular and circuit levels. As a model system, we are using classical (Pavlovian) fear conditioning, a simple form of associative learning that is particularly suitable for study in rodents.
The inability to control or inhibit inappropriate fear responses is a hallmark of human anxiety disorders. We are investigating the cellular mechanisms underlying fear extinction, an associative learning process mediating inhibitory control of inappropriate fear behavior.
Using a multidisciplinary and integrated experimental approach in mice, we are combining in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology, imaging, molecular biology, genetics, and behavioral techniques to identify the synaptic and cellular constituents of neural circuits in the amygdala underlying the acquisition, encoding and extinction of fear memory - the microcircuitry of fear conditioning.
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Andreas Lüthi
This is a list of selected publications from this group. For a full list of publications, please visit our Publications page and search by group name.
d'Aquin S, Szönyi A, Mahn M, Krabbe S, Gründemann J, Lüthi A. (2022) Compartmentalized dendritic plasticity during associative learning
Science 376: eabf7052Courtin J, Bitterman Y, Müller S, Hinz J, Hagihara KM, Müller C, Lüthi A. (2022) A neuronal mechanism for motivational control of behavior
Science 375: eabg7277Hagihara KM, Bukalo O, Zeller M, Aksoy-Aksel A, Karalis N, Limoges A, Rigg T, Campbell T, Mendez A, Weinhotz C, Mahn M, Zweifel LS, Palmiter RD, Ehrlich I, Lüthi A, Holmes A (2021) Competition between intercalated amygdala clusters orchestrates a switch in fear state
Nature 594: 403-407Fustinana MS, Eichlisberger T, Bouwmeester T, Bitterman Y, Lüthi A (2021) State-dependent encoding of exploratory behavior in the amygdala
Nature 592: 267-271Krabbe S, Paradiso E, d'Aquin S, Bitterman Y, Xu C, Yonehara K, Markovic M, Gründemann J, Ferraguti F, Lüthi A (2019) Adaptive disinhibitory gating by VIP interneurons permits associative learning
Nature Neurosci 22: 1834-1843Jan Gründemann*, Yael Bitterman*, Tingjia Lu, Sabine Krabbe, Benjamin F. Grewe, Mark J. Schnitzer & Andreas Lüthi (2019) Amygdala Ensembles Encode Behavioral States
Science, Vol. 364, Issue 6437, eaav8736* Co-first authors -- Publication available open access
Fadok JP, Krabbe S, Markovic M, Courtin J, Xu C, Massi L, Botta P, Bylund K, Müller C, Kovacevic A, Tovote P, Lüthi A (2017) A competitive inhibitory circuit for selection of active and passive fear responses
Nature 542, 96-100Grewe BF, Gründemann J, Kitch LJ, Lecoq JA, Parker J, Marshall JD, Larkin MC, Jercog P, Grenier F, Li JZ, Lüthi A, Schnitzer MJ (2017) Neural ensemble dynamics underlying long-term associative memory
Nature 543, 670-675Xu C, Krabbe S, Gründemann J, Botta P, Fadok JP, Osakada F, Saur D, Grewe BF, Schitzer MJ, Callaway EM, Lüthi A (2016) Distinct hippocampal pathways mediate dissociable roles of context in memory retrieval
Cell 167:961-972Vogel E*, Krabbe S*, Gründemann J, Wamsteeker Cusulin JI, Lüthi A (2016) Projection-specific dynamic regulation of inhibition in amygdala micro-circuits
Neuron 91: 644-651* Co-first author
Tovote P*, Esposito MS*, Botta P, Chaudun F, Fadok JP, Markovic M, Wolff SBE, Ramakrishnan C, Fenno L, Deisseroth K, Herry C, Arber S, Lüthi A (2016) Midbrain circuits for defensive behavior
Nature 534:206-212* Co-first author
Botta P, Demmou L, Kasugai Y, Markovic M, Xu C, Fadok JP, Lu T, Poe MM, Xu L, Cook JM, Rudolph U, Sah P, Ferraguti F, Lüthi A (2015) Regulating anxiety with extrasynaptic inhibition
Nature Neurosci 18:1493-1500Wolff SBE*, Gründemann J*, Tovote P, Krabbe S, Jacobson GA, Xu C, Müller C, Herry C, Ehrlich I, Friedrich RW, Letzkus JJ, Lüthi A (2014) Amygdala interneuron subtypes control fear learning through disinhibition
Nature 509:453-458*Co-first author
Senn V*, Wolff SBE*, Herry C, Grenier F, Ehrlich I, Gründemann J, Fadok JP, Müller C, Letzkus JJ, Lüthi A (2014) Long-range connectivity defines behavioral specificity of amygdala neurons
Neuron 81: 428-437*Co-first author
Letzkus JJ*, Wolff SBE*, Meyer EMM, Tovote P, Courtin J, Herry C, Lüthi A (2011) A disinhibitory microcircuit for associative fear learning in auditory cortex
Nature 480: 331-335*Co-first author
Ciocchi S*, Herry C*, Grenier F, Wolff SBE, Letzkus, JJ, Vlachos I, Ehrlich I, Sprengel R, Deisseroth K, Stadler M, Müller C, Lüthi A (2010) Encoding of conditioned fear in central amygdala inhibitory circuits
Nature 468: 277-282*Co-first author
Haubensak W, Kunwar P, Cai H, Ciocchi S, Wall N, Ponnusami R, Biag J, Dong HW, Deisseroth K, Callaway EM, Fanselow MS, Lüthi A, Anderson DJ (2010) Genetic dissection of an amygdala microcircuit that gates conditioned fear
Nature 468: 270-276.Gogolla N, Caroni P, Lüthi A, Herry C (2009) Perineuronal nets protect fear memories from erasure
Science 325:1258-1261Fourcaudot E*, Gambino F*, Humeau Y, Casassus G, Poulain B, Lüthi A (2009) L-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels mediate expression of presynaptic LTP in amygdala
Nature Neurosci 12:1093-1095*Co-first author
Herry C, Ciocchi S, Senn V, Demmou L, Müller C, Lüthi A (2008) Switching on and off fear by distinct neuronal circuits
Nature 454:600-606Shaban H, Humeau Y, Herry C, Casassus G, Shigemoto R, Ciocchi S, Barbieri, S, van der Putten H, Kaupmann K, Bettler B, Lüthi A (2006) Generalization of amygdala LTP and conditioned fear in the absence of presynaptic inhibition
Nature Neurosci 9:1028-1035Humeau Y, Herry C, Kemp N, Shaban H, Fourcaudot E, Bissiere S, Lüthi A (2005) Dendritic spine heterogeneity determines afferent-specific hebbian plasticity in the amygdala
Neuron 45:119-131Humeau Y, Shaban H, Bissière S, Lüthi A (2003) Presynaptic induction of heterosynaptic associative plasticity in the mammalian brain
Nature 426:841-845Bissière S, Humeau Y, Lüthi A (2003) Dopamine gates LTP induction in lateral amygdala by suppressing feedforward inhibition
Nature Neurosci 6:587-592Full list of publications
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Mathias has always been fascinated by neuronal networks, leading him to study biology and neuroscience for his BSc and MSc. During his MSc thesis on information transfer in cultured neural networks, he realized how limited our capabilities to interface with neurons were, leading him to design and characterize light-gated proteins for neuronal activity control during his PhD with Ofer Yizhar. Equipped with the extended optogenetic toolbox he returned to study information transfer between distant brain areas in the lab of Andreas Lüthi. First as EMBO and then as Marie Curie Individual fellow. Since 2023, Mathias is leading the research project valence in decision-making as Ambizione fellow.
Current reseachAside from his fascination with neuronal networks, Mathias likes tinkering with proteins, light, and electronics to study brain function. He is leading a research project that is examining the role of amygdala activity on cortical processing during value assignment and decision-making. This project specifically looks at the long-range connections between the basolateral amygdala and prefrontal cortex in mice.
Education- PhD in Neuroscience, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
- MSc in Systemic Neuroscience, LMU Munich, Germany
- BSc in Biology, University of Constance, Germany
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Andras has always been interested in the working principles of the nervous system from molecules to brain areas, so he decided to get involved in research as a high school student. While studying medicine at the Semmelweis University in Budapest, he started his undergraduate research in the lab of Tamas Freund in the Institute of Experimental Medicine on the functional anatomy of inhibitory synapses in the hippocampal formation. He continued his PhD studies in the same lab, shifting to the exciting topic of subcortical control of memory formation. He contributed to the description of a disinhibitory circuit involved in the regulation of contextual memory formation, and to the discovery of a formerly unknown neuronal population in the brainstem controlling aversive experience.
He joined the lab of Andreas Lüthi in 2019 as an EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow, where he works on a joint project with Zoltan Nusser’s lab in Budapest on the molecular mechanisms of fear memory encoding in the amygdala.
Current reseachThe main project of Andras is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the plasticity phenotypes and leading to the selection of a sparse population of neurons into the physical trace of a memory in the brain. To decipher these mechanisms, he uses in vivo two-photon microscopy in behaving mice, followed by high-resolution quantitative immunostainings evaluated by fluorescent confocal microscopy.
Education• Doctor of Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
• PhD in Neurosciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
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Tobias was born in Alsace, on the French side of the tri-national urban area of Basel. He did his studies in Strasbourg, before joining the Oncology Department at Novartis, as a postgraduate student. He worked in the pharmacology unit, where he performed PK/PD and efficacy studies on tumor models. He then joined the FMI in 2013 as a Research Associate in the lab of Momo Bentires-Alj. His main project was to identify new therapeutic targets in the field of breast cancer, using an in vivo mutagenesis screening tool. He then got the opportunity to join the Neurobiology Department of the FMI in the lab of Andreas Lüthi, where he is working since 2016 as a Lab Manager.
Education • MSc in Pharmacology, University of Strasbourg
• BSc in Cellular Biology and Physiology, University of Strasbourg
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