So that I may perceive whatever holds, the world together in its inmost folds.

Dass ich erkenne, was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhält.

(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust)

We are curious to understand how the brain works. Conceptional thinking and experimental work in our group is directed to fundamental research. Fundamental research ist basic, curiosity-driven research.We want to know how brain circuits are structurally and functionally organized. Our studies focus on the central auditory system of mammals, in particular excitatory and inhibitory connections between neurons in the brainstem. Some of them are illustrated in the above picture. These connections (synapses) perform ultrafast with exquisite reliability and remarkable temporal precision. We aim to understand the processes and mechanisms by which the exquisite precision and high fidelity of the hearing apparatuses are achieved. Our approaches include electrophysiological, histological, transcriptomic, and proteomic methods. Deafness-related effects on the development of the central auditory system are also a matter of our active research.