Francois


	I have been working for Pankaj Sah at the Queensland Brain Institute (Australia) since May 2006. I am currently working on memory formation related to sensory stimulation and emotions in the amygdala. I am using in vivo patch-clamp in anesthetized rats undergoing fear conditioning.

Between 2001 and 2005, I was post doctoral fellow at the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Baltimore, USA. My research interest concerned the regulation of neuronal activity by drugs and neurotransmitters in physiological relevant condition. As one can expect the latter aspect is particularly important and, unfortunately, often neglected in experimental studies. Indeed, most of our knowledge about neurophysiology comes from studies using experimental conditions radically different from the physiology.

I received my PhD in 2001 from Grenoble University (France). My thesis work focused on the mechanism of high frequency stimulation applied to Subthalamic nucleus. This technique is currently applied to improve Parkinson ‘s disease motor symptoms but the fundamental mechanism it underlies is still debated. A better understanding of how this electrical stimulation applied directly in the brain can improve motor impairment will allow to improve it’s therapeutic application and maybe to use it to treat other disorders. Chronic pain, headache and some psychiatric disease like obsessive compulsive disorders have already been proposed as potential targets.

The main conclusion of my work was to propose an activation of an inhibitory system by the electrical stimulation instead of a direct inhibition. So far this conclusion has been confirmed by other research team using different approaches.


		You can check and download most of my publications here

		You can download my resume here

	Contact me: fwindels@thewindels.org