Welcome to the Hansel Lab

One of the most intriguing features of our brains is the ability to learn and to adapt. The main goal of our lab is to study the mechanisms underlying the formation of memories. We focus on the cerebellum, which is a brain area involved in motor coordination and learning, and which also plays a role in cognitive functions. Using patch-clamp recordings from cerebellar slice preparations, we examine activity-dependent changes in synaptic strength (synaptic plasticity) as well as changes in membrane excitability (intrinsic plasticity) that may form a cellular basis for information storage and learning. We also study abnormalities in synaptic physiology and in cerebellar function in autism, which often is associated with motor problems.

Lab News:

Abby’s manuscript ‘Cerebellar climbing fibers impact experience-dependent plasticity in the mouse primary somatosensory cortex‘ has been published by eLife! It has been assessed by the eLife editors as fundamental and convincing. Congratulations!

There is a nice accompanying ‘Insight’ article written by Martha Garcia and Mark Wagner: ‘The little brain supervises learning in the big brain‘

Garcia, M. & Wagner, M.: eLife 14, e109869 (2025)

Christian’s first book, Memory Makes the Brain, has been released by World Scientific in January 2021! (For more details, see Book.)