Wolfgang Stein

Illinois State University, Biological Sciences, Faculty Member

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Wolfgang Stein, PhD
Illinois State University, School of Biological Sciences
Normal, Illinois, United States
www.neurobiologie.de
2019 - now Full Professor
Sep 2015 - 2019 Associate Professor
Jan 2012 – Sep 2015 Assistant Professor of Cellular Neurophysiology
Dec 2006 – Dec 2011 Junior Faculty Universität Ulm, Institute of Neurobiology, Ulm, Germany

Postdoc positions:
2000 - 2006: Ulm University, Institute for Neurobiology. PI: Harald Wolf.
1999 - 2000: University of Pennsylvania, Department of Neuroscience. PI Michael P. Nusbaum.
1998 - 1999: Bielefeld University, Germany Department of Biological Cybernetics and Theoretical Biology. PI Holk Cruse

PhD student:
1995 – 1998 Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Department of Biology
Kaiserslautern, Germany. PI: Ulrich Baessler
Skills: Electrophysiology, In Vitro Electrophysiology, Circuits, Neuroscience, In Vivo Electrophysiology, Patch-Clamp Electrophysiology, Patch Clamp Recording, Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging, Neuromodulation, Voltage Clamp

Languages: English, French, German, Latin

Scientific Memberships: Society for Neuroscience, international Society for Neuroethology
Address: Illinois State University
School of Biological Sciences
Campus Box 4120
Normal, IL 61790
www.neurobiologie.de

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Nicola Savill

York St John University

Don Ross

University College Cork

David Seamon

Kansas State University

Maria Brincker

University of Massachusetts, Boston

Vittorio Gallese

Università degli Studi di Parma (Italy)

Jawaid Ahsan

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

Vivek Nityananda

Newcastle University

Stefano Palminteri

École Normale Supérieure

Carlo Semenza

Università degli Studi di Padova

Winfried Raabe

University of Minnesota

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Papers by Wolfgang Stein

Temperature-robust activity patterns arise from coordinated axonal Sodium channel properties

PLOS Computational Biology, Jul 27, 2020

Action potentials are a key component of neuronal communication and their precise timing is criti... more Action potentials are a key component of neuronal communication and their precise timing is critical for processes like learning, memory, and complex behaviors. Action potentials propagate through long axons to their postsynaptic partners, which requires axons not only to faithfully transfer action potentials to distant synaptic regions but also to maintain their timing. This is particularly challenging when axons differ in their morphological and physiological properties, as timing is predicted to diverge between these axons when extrinsic conditions change. It is unknown if and how diverse axons maintain timing during temperature changes that animals and humans encounter. We studied whether ambient temperature changes cause different timing in the periphery of neurons that centrally produce temperature-robust activity. In an approach combining modeling, imaging, and electrophysiology, we explored mechanisms that support timing by exposing the axons of three different neuron types from the same crustacean (Cancer borealis) motor circuit and involved in the same functional task to a range of physiological temperatures. We show that despite substantial differences between axons, the effects of temperature on action potential propagation were moderate and supported temperature-robust timing over long-distances. Our modeling demonstrates that to maintain timing, the underlying channel properties of these axons do not need to be temperature-insensitive or highly restricted, but coordinating the temperature sensitivities of the Sodium activation gate time constant and the maximum Sodium conductance is required. Thus, even highly temperature-sensitive ion channel properties can support temperature-robust timing between distinct neuronal types and across long distances.

Wolfgang Stein

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