Interested in how intelligent behaviour arises, I research the neural mechanisms behind the prerequisites of memory formation and response timing in the Hesslow Lab at Lund University. The main objective in the lab is to understand the neural machinery that underlies learning of precisely timed motor responses. In my project, Purkinje cell temporal control of cerebellar output during associative learning is explored. In the lab, our team studies and ponders over:
- Cerebellar mechanisms of learning and memory
- Cerebellar timing
- Feedback control of learning
- Learning theory
- The theory and philosophy of cognition
Our multidisciplinary research environment Thinking in Time: Cognition, Communication, and Learning studies the physiological and cognitive bases of language and communication with a special focus on temporal processing. The goal is to provide a description of timing and sequencing of cognition - from the millisecond perceptions at the cellular level, to the long-term development of words and concepts.
Publications
Peer-reviewed papers
Johansson, F. Intrinsic memory of temporal intervals in cerebellar Purkinje cells. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. (2019). Full text
Johansson, Jirenhed, Rasmussen, Zucca & Hesslow. Absence of parallel fibre to Purkinje Cell LTD during eyeblink conditioning. Scientific Reports. (2018) Full text
Jirenhed, Rasmussen, Johansson & Hesslow. Learned response sequences in cerebellar Purkinje cells. PNAS (2017) Full text
Johansson, Hesslow & Medina. Mechanisms for motor timing in cerebellar cortex. Curr Op Behav Sci (2016) Full text
Johansson, Carlsson, Rasmussen, Yeo & Hesslow. Activation a temporal memory by the mGluR7 receptor. Cell Reports (2015) Full text
Rasmussen, Zucca, Johansson, Jirenhed & Hesslow. Purkinje cell activity during classical conditioning with different conditional stimuli explains central tenet of Rescorla-Wagner model. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2015) Full text
Johansson & Hesslow. Theoretical Considerations for Understanding a Purkinje cell Timing Mechanism. Comm. Integr. Biol. (2014) Full text
Johansson, Jirenhed, Rasmussen, Zucca & Hesslow. Memory trace and timing mechanism localized to cerebellar Purkinje cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (PNAS). (2014) PDF
Wetmore, Jirenhed, Rasmussen, Johansson, Schnitzer & Hesslow. Bidirectional plasticity of Purkinje cells matches temporal features of learning. J. Neurosci. (2014) PDF
Rasmussen, Jirenhed, Zucca, Johansson, Svensson & Hesslow. Number of spikes in climbing fibers determines the direction of cerebellar learning. J. Neurosci. (2013) PDF
Hesslow, Jirenhed, Rasmussen & Johansson. Classical conditioning of motor responses: what is the learning mechanism? Neur. Netw. (2013) PubMed page
Rasmussen, Zucca, Jirenhed, Johansson, Ortenblad, Svensson & Hesslow. Golgi cell activity during eye blink conditioning in decerebrate ferrets. Cerebellum (2013) PubMed page
Books & book chapters
Johansson F. Anatomi i klartext (2015)
Posters
Johansson F., Carlsson, H.A.E., Rasmussen, A., Yeo, CH. & Hesslow, G. (2015). Blocking mGluR7 prevents expression of conditioned Purkinje cell responses. 7th International Symposium of the Society for Research on The Cerebellum. Brussels. PDF.
Jirenhed, DA., Johansson, F., & Hesslow G. (2015). Purkinje cell Learning of multiple responses to a single stimulus. 7th International Symposium of the Society for Research on The Cerebellum. Brussels. PDF.
Rasmussen, A., Zucca, R., Johansson, F., Jirenhed, D.A. & Hesslow, G. (2015). Learning induced pause responses in Purkinje cells reduce the probability that a subsequent periorbital stimulus elicits a complex spike. 7th International Symposium of the Society for Research on The Cerebellum. Brussels.
Rasmussen, A., Zucca, R., Jirenhed, D., Johansson, F., & Hesslow, G. (2013). Direction of learning in cerebellar Purkinje cells dependent on number of climbing fiber impulses.Translational Sensorimotor Neuroscience Meeting. PDF.
Zucca, R., Rasmussen, A., Johansson, F., Verschure, P. F., & Hesslow, G. (2012). Suppression of conditioned eye-blink responses through high frequency climbing fibres stimulation. Federation of European Neuroscience Societies. Barcelona. PDF.
Rasmussen, A., Zucca, R., Jirenhed, D., Johansson, F., Örtenblad, C., Svensson, P., & Hesslow, G. (2012). Golgi Cell Activity during Eyeblink Conditioning in Decerebrate Ferrets. Society For Neuroscience. New Orleans. PDF.
Johansson, F., Jirenhed, D., Rasmussen, A., Zucca, R., & Hesslow, G. (2011). In vivo parallel fibre stimulation as conditional stimulus in Pavlovian conditioning of Purkinje neuron responses. Society For Neuroscience. Washington DC. PDF.
Rasmussen, A., Johansson, F., Zucca, R., & Hesslow, G. (2011). The neural foundation of overexpectation.Society For Neuroscience. Washington DC. PDF.