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Christian Broberger, M.D., Ph.D.

Christian Broberger

Broberger Lab

Research Focus

We are interested in the organization and network properties of brain networks involved in homeostatic processes. Specifically, we study:

  1. how the thalamocortical network switches between sleep and wakefulness and
  2. the circuitries in the hypothalamus and beyond that monitor the body's supply and demand of energy and orchestrate the metabolic response of feeding behaviour, endocrine output and the autonomic nervous system.

These issues are investigated by electrophysiology (extra-, intra- and whole-cell recordings) on slice preparations that exhibit spontaneous, rhythmic, synchronized activity, and neuroanatomical techniques (immunofluorescence, in situ hybridization, tract tracing). Our aim is to understand how network activity relates to behaviour and the cellular mechanisms that underlie vigilance and motivation states. We place particular emphasis on identifying the transmitters and neuropeptides involved in these processes, information that may have implications for the treatment of sleep disorders, epilepsy, obesity and anorexia.

Selected Publications

Foo K, Brismar H, Broberger C

Distribution and neuropeptide coexistence of nesfatin-1/nucleobindin2 mRNA in the rat brain.

2008 (submitted for publication)

Broberger C., McCormick DA

Excitatory effects of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) in the thalamus.

Journal of Neuroscience 25: 1664-1673, 2005

Lee KH, Broberger C, Kim U, McCormick DA

Histamine modulates thalamocortical activity by activating a chloride conductance in ferret perigeniculate neurons.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 101: 6716-6721, 2004

Broberger C, De Lecea L, Sutcliffe JG, Hökfelt T

Hypocretin/orexin- and melanin-concentrating hormone-expressing cells form distinct populations in the rodent lateral hypothalamus: Relationship to the neuropeptide Y and Agouti gene-related protein systems. The neocortical microcircuit as a tabula rasa.

Journal of Comparative Neurology 402 (4): 460-474, 1998

Broberger C, Johansen J, Johansson C, Schalling M, Hökfelt T,

The neuropeptide Y agouti gene-related protein (AGRP) brain circuitry in normal, anorectic, and monosodium glutamate-treated mice.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 95 (25): 15043-15048, 1998

Researcher Christian Broberger

Work:
08-524 870 38
Fax:
08-33 16 92
E-mail:
Department of Neuroscience
Karolinska Institutet
Retzius väg 8
S-17177 Stockholm, Sweden