Ph.D. in Neurophysiology, University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
B.S. in Biochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Massimo Scanziani's research seeks to understand the structure and function of neuronal circuits in the mammalian cortex and how they contribute to processing sensory information. Towards this goal the lab uses cutting edge electrophysiological, imaging, optogenetic and anatomical techniques. The work performed in the lab spans from in vitro analysis of biophysical properties of single neurons to in vivo recordings from neuronal populations during sensory stimulation in awake, behaving animals. Through this research program the role of each individual element of a neuronal circuit in sensory processing can be understood and can bridge the gap between cellular and system neuroscience.
Reinhold K, Lien AD, Scanziani M
Distinct Recurrent Versus Afferent Dynamics in Cortical Visual Processing
Nature Neurosci. 2015 18: 1789–1797
Xue M, Atallah VB, Scanziani M
Equalizing Excitation-Inhibition Ratios Across Visual Cortical Neurons
Nature 2014, 511: 596-600
Bortone D, Olsen SR, Scanziani M
Translaminar Inhibitory Cells Recruited by Layer 6 Cortico‐Thalamic Neurons Suppress Visual Cortex
Neuron 2014, 82: 474-485
Lien AD, Scanziani, M
Tuned thalamic excitation is amplified by visual cortical circuits.
Nature Neurosci. 2013, 16: 1315-1323
Pfeffer, C. K., Xue, M., He, M., Huang, Z. J., Scanziani, M.
Inhibition of inhibition in visual cortex: the logic of connections between molecularly distinct interneurons.
Nature Neurosci. 2013, 16: 1068-1076
Adesnik H, Bruns W, Taniguchi H, Huang ZJ, Scanziani, M
A neural circuit for spatial summation in visual cortex.
Nature, 2012, 490: 227-231 (full article).
Olsen SR, Bortone D, Adesnik H,
Gain control by layer six in cortical circuits of vision.
Nature 2012, 483: 47-52 (full article).
Atallah BV, Bruns W, Carandini M, Scanziani, M.
Parvalbumin expressing interneurons linearly transform cortical responses to visual stimuli.
Neuron 2012 73; 159 - 170
Isaacson JS, Scanziani M.
How inhibition shapes cortical activity
Neuron 2011; 72: 231-243.
Bagnall MW, Hull C, Bushong EA, Ellisman MH,
Multiple clusters of release sites formed by individual thalamic afferents onto cortical interneurons ensure reliable transmission.
Neuron 2011 71:180-194.
Adesnik H, Scanziani, M.
Lateral competition for cortical space through layer specific horizontal circuits.
Nature 2010, 464: 1155-1160 (full article).
Scanziani M, Hausser M.
Electrophysiology in the age of light,
Nature 2009 461: 930-939.
Pouille F, Marin-Burgin A, Adesnik H, Atallah BV, Scanziani M.
Input normalization by global feed-forward inhibition expands cortical dynamic range.
Nature Neurosci 2009 12: 1577-1585.
Atallah BV, Scanziani M.
Instantaneous modulation of gamma oscillation frequency by balancing excitation with inhibition.
Neuron 2009 62:566-77.
Glickfeld LL, Roberts JD, Somogyi P, Scanziani M.
Interneurons hyperpolarize pyramidal cells along their entire somatodendritic axis.
Nature Neurosci 2009, 12: 21-23.
Kapfer C, Glickfeld LL, Atallah BV,
Supralinear Increase of Recurrent Inhibition during Sparse Activity in the Somatosensory Cortex.
Nature Neurosci 2007, 10: 743 – 53.
Gabernet L, Jadhav SP, Feldman DE, Carandini M, Scanziani M.
Somatosensory integration controlled by dynamic thalamocortical feed-forward inhibition.
Neuron 2005, 48:315-27.
Pouille F, Scanziani M.
Routing of spike series by dynamic circuits in the hippocampus.
Nature 2004, 429:717-23 (full article).
Pouille F, Scanziani M.
Enforcement of temporal fidelity in pyramidal cells by somatic feed-forward inhibition.
Science 2001, 293:1159-1163.
Massimo Scanziani earned his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology before pursuing a PhD in Neurophysiology from the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He completed subsequent postdoctoral research at UCSF and Ecole Superieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles in Paris. Prior to becoming a Professor at UCSF, Dr. Scanziani was a Professor for University of California San Diego and the Brain Research Institute at the University of Zurich.
Dr. Scanziani holds a number of awards including but not limited to a Betty and David Koetser Foundation for Brain Research Award, a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator, as well as being a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator since 2008.