Dr. Julio Hechavarría
Hechavarria Lab · Group Leader
- julio.hechavarria (at) esi-frankfurt.de
- Deutschordenstr. 46 · 60528 Frankfurt am Main · Germany
- +49 69 96769 515
Research statement
My main goal is to understand the neural networks that give raise to natural behaviors, with a strong focus on the neural networks that enable vocalization and hearing in mammals. Work in my group relies on electrophysiology, computational modelling, brain perturbation techniques, and behavioral measurements. We are a “Heisenberg Group”, established through the Heisenberg initiative of the German Research Council. Our research is conducted in non-human primates (bats & rodents), humans, and in brain organoids. There are currently three main research lines in my lab:
(i) Brain insights from in-vitro experiments (cerebral organoids). Cerebral organoids derived from human pluripotent stem-cells offer many advantages for basic and clinical research when behavioral assessments are not required. While organoids are potentially very useful, we still know very little on much these man-made structures resemble an actual brain in terms of functional properties of individual neurons and neural assemblies. My lab bridges this gap by studying organoids using electrophysiology and pharmacological manipulations, similar to those classically used to study the natural brain. This work is conducted in collaboration with the Goethe University (Chiocchetti Lab).
(ii) The brain in-vivo (studies during vocalization and hearing) What happens in the natural brain when we listen to external sounds or when we speak? These are tasks that are not unique to humans, but that many animals have solve on a daily basis, using neural circuits that have been perfected and largely preserved over millions of years of evolution. My lab uses a comparative approach to study what makes sounds ethologically relevant across animal species, and how these sounds are perceived and produced. Our comparative work focusses on bats, rodents and humans as model organisms. Understanding how mammals (humans and non-humans) hear and vocalize is important for both clinical and conservation purposes.
(iii) The brain in silico In silico experiments conducted via computer simulations are a tool used by my group to make sense of complex data obtained in-vivo and in vitro (see above). Computational modelling is a fundamental part of our work and we use it to derive the neural networks that give raise to behavior and natural neural representations. Our in silico work produces precise guiding hypothesis that ultimately reduce the number of experiments required to understand the brain and behavior.
Key publications
García-Rosales F, Schaworonkow N, Hechavarría JC (2024). Oscillatory waveform shape and temporal spike correlations differ across bat frontal and auditory cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 44 (10):e1236232023. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1236-23.2023
Kiai A, Clemens J, Kössl M, Poeppel D, Hechavarría JC (2023). Flexible control of vocal timing in bats enables escape from acoustic interference. Commun. Biol. 6: 1153. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05507-5
López-Jury L, García-Rosales F, González-Palomares E, Wetekam J, Pasek M, Hechavarria JC (2023). A neuron model with unbalanced synaptic weights explains the asymmetric effects of anaesthesia on the auditory cortex. PLoS biology, 21(2): e3002013. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002013
García-Rosales F, López-Jury L, González-Palomares E, Wetekam J, Cabral-Calderín Y, Kiai A, … & Hechavarría JC (2022). Echolocation-related reversal of information flow in a cortical vocalization network. Nature Communications, 13(1): 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31230-6
Weineck K, García-Rosales F, Hechavarría JC (2020). Fronto-striatal oscillations predict vocal output in bats. PLoS Biology 18 (3): e3000658 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000658
For the general public:
Hechavarría JC, Kössl M (2017). Die Zeitkarte im Gehirn: Wie Fledermäuse Raum in Zeit übersetzen. Forschung Frankfurt, Wissenschaftsmagazin der Goethe-Universität: 28-33. https://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/files/43712/FoFra_2017_01_Zeitempfinden_Die_Zeitkarte_im_Gehirn.pdf