Prof. Dr. Dr. Anna-Sophia Wahl

Keywords:
Neuronal repair, stroke, vascular dementia, microcircuits of repair, motor systems

Research methods:
We use different imaging methods (wide field and multiphoton calcium imaging) in the behaving animal (performing grasping tasks, running on a running wheel or in a virtual reality environment) during learning and after the induction of different stroke models. We also apply opto- and chemogenetics, sophisticated behavioral assessments for sensorimotor and cognitive functions as well as deep learning algorithms to explore causal relationships between neuronal rewiring- from a cellular resolution till a network level- and the behavioral phenotype.

Brief research description:
My lab is interested in understanding fundamental principles of cellular physiology and pathophysiology which are part of the intrinsic repair machinery enabling functional recovery in the brain after CNS injury such as stroke. We would like to understand, why some nerve cells are chosen to participate in repair processes while other nerve cells maintain their old function. We also examine how surviving nerve cells form new connections, how old connections strengthen, which neuronal circuits reorganize, stabilize or disintegrate and how neuronal remodeling contributes to the functional outcome. Thus, our work focuses on revealing fundamental principles of individual nerve cell rewiring and the reorganization of cellular assembles to recode in response to CNS injury with the goal to further enhance repair processes and regain lost or impaired functions. Our goal is to identify key targets of neuronal repair which will break the ground to also study the efficiency of different pharmaceutical compounds or translational stimulation approaches for the development of novel treatment approaches for patients with stroke and vascular dementia.

Current GSN students: 

Selected publications:

Brattoli B*, Büchler U*, Dorkenwald M, Reiser P, Filli L, Helmchen F, Wahl AS*, Ommer B*. uBAM: Unsupervised Behavior Analysis and Magnification using Deep Learning. Nature machine intelligence 3 (6), 495-506 (2021); doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-021-00326-x, *shared first and senior authorship

Omlor W, Wahl AS, Sipilae P, Luetcke H, Laurenczy B, Chen IW, Sumanovski LT, van 't Hoff M, Bethge P, Voigt FF, Schwab ME, Helmchen F. Context-dependent limb movement encoding in neuronal populations of motor cortex. Nature Communications 2019 Oct 23. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12670-z.

Wahl AS, Erlebach E, Kaiser J, Brattoli B, Büchler U, Ineichen BV, Mosberger AC, Imobersteg S, Wieckhorst M, Stirn M, Schroeter A, Ommer B, Schwab ME. Early reduced behavioral activity induced by large strokes affects the efficiency of enriched environment in rats. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2018 Jan 1:271678X18777661. doi: 10.1177/0271678X18777661. 

Wahl AS*, Büchler U*, Brändli A, Brattoli B, Musall S, Kasper H, Ineichen BV, Helmchen F, Ommer B, Schwab ME, Optogenetic stimulation of the intact corticospinal tract after stroke restores motor control through regionalized functional circuit formation. Nature Communications 2017 Oct 30;8(1):1187. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01090-6. *shared first authorship

Wahl AS, Omlor W, Rubio JC, Chen JL, Zheng H, Schröter A, Gullo M, Weinmann O, Kobayashi K, Helmchen F, Ommer B, Schwab ME. Neuronal repair. Asynchronous therapy restores motor control by rewiring of the rat corticospinal tract after a stroke. Science. 2014 344(6189):1250-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1253050.

Wahl AS, Schwab ME. Finding an optimal rehabilitation paradigm after stroke: enhancing fiber growth and training of the brain at the right moment. Front Hum Neurosci. 2014 7:911. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00911.