Unsere Webseite nutzt Cookies, damit die User-Experience gesteigert wird. Bitte beachten Sie, dass ohne Cookies einige Funktionalitäten nicht mehr ausführbar sind (z. B. Formulare). Ausführlichere Hinweise zu Cookies
OK
LMU Munich University Hospital
  • Our Labs
      Dichgans Lab
        Bernhagen Lab
          Simons Lab
            Liesz Lab
              Ewers Lab
                Paquet Lab
                  Plesnila Lab
                    Erturk Lab
                      Wahl Lab
                        Duering Lab
                          Gokce Lab
                            Benakis Lab
                              Franzmeier Lab
                                Jäkel Lab
                                  Tiedt Lab
                                    Georgakis Lab
                                  • News
                                  • Publications
                                  • About us
                                      Contact
                                        How to get there
                                          Management
                                            Scientific Advisory Board
                                              Imprint
                                                Privacy Policy
                                                  Media
                                                    Diversity at the ISD
                                                  • Funding
                                                  • Open positions
                                                  • For Patients
                                                  1. ISD Research
                                                  2. Our Labs
                                                  3. Wahl Lab

                                                  Anna-Sophia Wahl – Neuronal Repair and Rewiring

                                                  • Research focus
                                                  • Publications
                                                  • Team
                                                  • The PI
                                                  • Funding

                                                  We perform 2photon calcium imaging in vivo in the cortex but also in deep brain structures such as the hippocampus (see video)

                                                  Although the last decades have been very successful in developing acute treatment options for patients suffering from stroke, we still cannot provide specific and causative therapies for the chronic consequences of strokes such as long-term motor impairment or cognitive decline. A prerequisite for developing novel therapeutic approaches, is to improve our understanding, how the brain itself deals with structural damage on different levels- from a network, to a cellular and subcellular level. We know from clinical studies and animal models, that an injury to the brain induces plastic mechanisms and initiates intrinsic repair processes. However, in our own work we have shown, that interacting with this intrinsic repair machinery is not trivial. Thus, the goal of our work is, to uncover the principles of neuronal repair and rewiring to identify new targets for restoring impaired neuronal activity and for promoting recovery of lost function after brain injury. Specifically, we would like to understand, how some nerve cells are chosen to participate in repair processes while others maintain their old function.

                                                  We also examine how surviving nerve cells form new connections, how old connections are strengthened, which neuronal circuits reorganize, stabilize or disintegrate and how neuronal remodeling contributes to the functional outcome.

                                                  Elucidating causal connections between neuronal rewiring and functional outcome

                                                  We use different imaging methods (wide field and multiphoton calcium imaging) in the behaving animal (performing grasping tasks, running on a running wheel or in a virtual reality environment) during learning and after the induction of different stroke models. We also apply opto- and chemogenetics, sophisticated behavioral assessments for sensorimotor and cognitive functions as well as deep learning algorithms to explore causal relationships between neuronal rewiring- from a cellular resolution till a network level- and the behavioral phenotype.

                                                  Studying neuronal microcircuits for sensorimotor dysfunction and recovery after stroke

                                                  We study how individual surviving neurons in the cortex rewire and recode to take over lost- or impaired motor function after a photothrombotic stroke targeting the sensorimotor cortex. We use chronic 2-photon calcium imaging in active animals following the same region of interest in the cortex during learning of the motor task and after stroke. We hope to reveal (i) how the computation of individual neurons and neuronal ensembles adapt to injury and how this is related to motor recovery, (ii) how different layers of the motor cortex contribute to the rewiring processes ,(iii) if mechanisms of spontaneous recovery can be further promoted by appropriate external treatment approaches (e.g. pharmacology or rehabilitation). 

                                                  Studying the pathomechanisms of cognitive decline on a microcircuit level after stroke

                                                  Almost 20% of stroke patients develop forms of cognitive decline months but also years after the ischemic event. The underlying mechanisms are not understood. A critical area of memory formation but also memory degeneration is the hippocampus. Hippocampal neurons are in particular known to be highly vulnerable to ischemic injury. Using chronic 2-photon calcium imaging in the hippocampus during learning of a spatial memory task (mice learn to navigate in a virtual reality set-up) and after induction of micro-strokes we hope to elucidate (i) how micro-strokes impair the local neuronal circuitry in the hippocampus affecting memory, (ii) how surviving neurons and functional ensembles of neurons rewire to compensate for the damage and (iii) if neuronal rewiring can be further enhanced by the appropriate stimulation paradigm or neuro-cognitive rehabilitation schedule. 

                                                  Contact:

                                                  Prof. Dr. Dr. Anna-Sophia Wahl

                                                  E-Mail: AnnaSophia.Wahl@med.uni-muenchen.de

                                                  Key Publications

                                                  > All Publications

                                                  2023

                                                  Correa D, Scheuber MI, Shan H, Weinmann OW, Baumgartner YA, Harten A, Wahl AS, Skaar KL, Schwab ME. Intranasal delivery of full-length anti-Nogo-A antibody: A potential alternative route for therapeutic antibodies to central nervous system targets. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jan 24;120(4):e2200057120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2200057120. Epub 2023 Jan 17. 

                                                  2022

                                                  Ibañez V, Bohlen L, Manuell F, Mansuy I, Helmchen F, Wahl AS EXPLORE: A novel deep learning-based analysis method for exploration behaviour in object recognition tests biorxiv doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.24.497470

                                                  Rohrmann T, Praus P, Proctor T, Benedyk A, Tost H, Hennig O, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Wahl AS. Patients with affective disorders profit most from telemedical treatment: Evidence from a naturalistic patient cohort during the COVID-19 pandemic. Front Psychiatry. 2022 Dec 1;13:971896. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.971896. 

                                                  Wahl AS, Bauer AQ, Allegra Mascaro AL. Editorial: Optical imaging and neurorehabilitation strategies after stroke. Front Hum Neurosci. 2022 Aug 31;16:999725. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.999725. 

                                                  2021

                                                  Brattoli B*, Büchler U*, Dorkenwald M, Reiser P, Filli L, Helmchen F, Wahl AS*, Ommer B*. Unsupervised behaviour analysis and magnification (uBAM) using deep learning. Nature Machine Intelligence (2021) doi.org/10.1038/s42256-021-00326-x *shared first and senior authorship

                                                  Tröscher AR, Gruber J, Wagner JN, Böhm V, Wahl AS, von Oertzen TJ. Inflammation Mediated Epileptogenesis as Possible Mechanism Underlying Ischemic Post-stroke Epilepsy. Front Aging Neurosci. 2021 Dec 13;13:781174. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.781174. 

                                                  Wahl AS, Benson G, Hausner L, Schmitt S, Knoll A, Ferretti-Bondy A, Hefter D, Froelich L. Rapid Support for Older Adults during the Initial Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from a Geriatric Psychiatry Helpline. Geriatrics (Basel). 2021 Mar 22;6(1):30. doi: 10.3390/geriatrics6010030. 

                                                  2020

                                                  Wahl AS, Correa D, Imobersteg S, Maurer MA, Kaiser J, Augath MA, Schwab ME. Targeting Therapeutic Antibodies to the CNS: a Comparative Study of Intrathecal, Intravenous, and Subcutaneous Anti-Nogo A Antibody Treatment after Stroke in Rats. Neurotherapeutics. 2020 Jul;17(3):1153-1159. doi: 10.1007/s13311-020-00864-z. 

                                                  2019

                                                  Wahl AS, Erlebach E, Brattoli B, Büchler U, Kaiser J, Ineichen BV, Mosberger AC, Schneeberger S, Imobersteg S, Wieckhorst M, Stirn M, Schroeter A, Ommer B, Schwab ME. Early reduced behavioral activity induced by large strokes affects the efficiency of enriched environment in rats. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2019 Oct;39(10):2022-2034. doi: 10.1177/0271678X18777661. Epub 2018 May 17. 

                                                  Wahl AS, Löffler M, Hausner L, Ruttorf M, Nees F, Frölich L. Case report: a giant arachnoid cyst masking Alzheimer's disease. BMC Psychiatry. 2019 Sep 5;19(1):274. doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2247-8. 

                                                  Omlor W, Wahl AS, Sipilä P, Lütcke H, Laurenczy B, Chen IW, Sumanovski LT, van 't Hoff M, Bethge P, Voigt FF, Schwab ME, Helmchen F. Context-dependent limb movement encoding in neuronal populations of motor cortex. Nat Commun. 2019 Oct 23;10(1):4812. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-12670-z. 

                                                  2018

                                                  Mosberger AC, Miehlbradt JC, Bjelopoljak N, Schneider MP, Wahl AS, Ineichen BV, Gullo M, Schwab ME. Axotomized Corticospinal Neurons Increase Supra-Lesional Innervation and Remain Crucial for Skilled Reaching after Bilateral Pyramidotomy. Cereb Cortex. 2018 Feb 1;28(2):625-643. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhw405. 

                                                  Wahl AS. State-of-the-Art Techniques to Causally Link Neural Plasticity to Functional Recovery in Experimental Stroke Research. Neural Plast. 2018 May 27;2018:3846593. doi: 10.1155/2018/3846593. 

                                                  2017

                                                  Brattoli B, Büchler U, Wahl AS, Schwab ME, Ommer B. LSTM Self-Supervision for Detailed Behavior Analysis. Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) 2017, p. 3747-3756.

                                                  Wahl AS, Büchler U, Brändli A, Brattoli B, Musall S, Kasper H, Ineichen BV, Helmchen F, Ommer B, Schwab ME. Optogenetically stimulating intact rat corticospinal tract post-stroke restores motor control through regionalized functional circuit formation. Nat Commun. 2017 Oct 30;8(1):1187. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01090-6. 

                                                  2015

                                                  Antic B, Büchler U, Wahl AS, Schwab ME, Ommer B. Spatiotemporal Parsing of Motor Kinematics for Assessing Stroke Recovery. Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention – MICCAI 2015 pp 467-475.

                                                  2014

                                                  Wahl AS, Omlor W, Rubio JC, Chen JL, Zheng H, Schröter A, Gullo M, Weinmann O, Kobayashi K, Helmchen F, Ommer B, Schwab ME. Neuronal repair. Asynchronous therapy restores motor control by rewiring of the rat corticospinal tract after stroke. Science. 2014 Jun 13;344(6189):1250-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1253050. 

                                                  Wahl AS, Schwab ME. Finding an optimal rehabilitation paradigm after stroke: enhancing fiber growth and training of the brain at the right moment. Front Hum Neurosci. 2014 Jun 27;8:381. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00381. 

                                                  Kurtz P, Gaspard N, Wahl AS, Bauer RM, Hirsch LJ, Wunsch H, Claassen J. Continuous electroencephalography in a surgical intensive care unit. Intensive Care Med. 2014 Feb;40(2):228-234. doi: 10.1007/s00134-013-3149-8. Epub 2013 Nov 16. 

                                                  2009

                                                  Wahl AS, Buchthal B, Rode F, Bomholt SF, Freitag HE, Hardingham GE, Rønn LC, Bading H. Hypoxic/ischemic conditions induce expression of the putative pro-death gene Clca1 via activation of extrasynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. Neuroscience. 2009 Jan 12;158(1):344-52. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2008.06.018. Epub 2008 Jun 14. 

                                                  Anna-Sophia Wahl, PI

                                                  Alisa Vollhardt, PhD student, Veterinarian

                                                  We are in a transition phase to Munich and still located as junior group in the Lab of Neuronal Circuit Dynamics (head: Prof. F. Helmchen), Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich >>

                                                  Hendrik Heiser, PhD student

                                                  B.Sc. Biology, University of Göttingen

                                                  M.Sc. Neurosciences, International Max Planck Research School, University of Göttingen

                                                  Jithin Nambiar, PhD student

                                                  B.Sc. Technology, Genetic Engineering, Srm University, Chennai, India

                                                  M.Sc. Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, University of Tübingen

                                                  Matteo Panzeri, PhD student

                                                  B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Physics

                                                  Imperial College London, UK

                                                  Anna-Sophia Wahl, Principal investigator

                                                  I am a board certified psychiatrist with both clinical training in neurology and psychiatry as well as a neuroscientist with expertise in neuronal repair, stroke and dementia. In 2019 I started to build my own team as junior group leader at the Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich. Since 07/2022 I have accepted an associate professorship for neuroanatomy at LMU Munich with a dual affiliation as principal investigator at the ISD. With my team I am developing animal models – using a combination of chronic in-vivo 2photon imaging in mice and deep learning to unveil causal relationships between neuronal coding and the behavioural phenotype in health and disease.

                                                  We still know very little of the complex spatial and temporal dynamics of the brain state after stroke and this has prevented us from developing successful treatment options which are able to causally interact with intrinsic repair mechanisms to restore lost or impaired function after stroke. With our research we provide an experimental pipeline to break the ground – not only revealing novel pharmacological targets but also for studying the efficiency of different pharmaceutical compounds or translational stimulation approaches to promote neuronal repair and rewiring after CNS injury such as stroke. 

                                                  Personal data:

                                                  Anna-Sophia Wahl, MD PhD

                                                  Academic training

                                                  2012: American Medical State Examination USMLE Step II

                                                  2010: Final year rotation at the Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, USA

                                                  2010: Final year rotation in internal medicine/ cardiology at the Swiss Heart Center, Bern, Switzerland

                                                  2009: Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

                                                  2007-2011: Participant of the MD/PhD Program at Heidelberg University, studying biology to a bachelor`s equivalent

                                                  2004 – 2011: Medical Studies at Heidelberg University 


                                                  Academic and scientific degrees

                                                  2011-2014: PhD (summa cum laude) at the Brain Research Institute, ETH and University, Zurich, Switzerland; Supervisor: Prof. Dr. M. Schwab

                                                  2007-2009: MD thesis (magna cum laude) at the Interdisciplinary Center of Neurosciences, Heidelberg; Supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Bading


                                                  Professional career since graduation:

                                                  Since 07/2022: Professor for neuroanatomy (W2, tenure track) at LMU Munich

                                                  Since 01/2019: Junior Group Leader at the Brain Research Institute, Department Neurophysiology (Head: Prof. F. Helmchen), University of Zurich; Principal Investigator at the Center for Neuroscience Zurich;

                                                  2016-2020: Resident in Psychiatry/ Clinical scientist at the Central Institute of Mental Health (ZI), Mannheim, University of Heidelberg (Head: Prof. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg); Board certified psychiatrist and psychotherapist since 02/2021;

                                                  2015-2016: Postdoctoral fellow at the Brain Research Institute, ETH and University Zurich, Group Prof. Martin Schwab

                                                  2015: Resident in Neurology, University Hospital Zurich


                                                  Honors:

                                                  2022: SyNergy Professorship “Neuroanatomy”, Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology

                                                  2021: Research Grant Synapsis Foundation, Demenz Forschung Schweiz

                                                  2020: Research Grant Hurka Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland

                                                  2020: Research Grant Swiss Natonal Science Foundation (No. 192678)

                                                  2019: Research Grant Novartis Foundation for biomedical research

                                                  2018: Wrangell-Habilitation Scholarship

                                                  2018: Branco Weiss Fellowship

                                                  2017: Junior Research Award of the Journal Brain Sciences.

                                                  2015: Finalist of the FENS-Kavli PhD Prize

                                                  2014: Prize of the Faculty of Science, University of Zurich for an excellent PhD thesis

                                                  2014: Best publication award 2014 of the Swiss Society of Neuroscience

                                                  2012-2014: Several travel grants of the Center for Neuroscience Zurich (ZNZ), Swiss Physiological society and Swiss Society of Neuroscience (SSN) for neuroscience conferences.

                                                  2007-2011: Scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes)

                                                  2007: Participation in the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2007 upon nomination by the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg and a selection process of 20 000 applicants worldwide, sponsored by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation.

                                                  2005-2011: Scholarship of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation

                                                  2004: Prize of the German Physical Society for excellent achievements in physics in the A-level, School prize for German and the Natural Sciences in the A-level

                                                  Funding:

                                                  We gratefully acknowledge funding by the following funding organizations:

                                                  branko-weiss

                                                  Society in Science- Branco Weiss Fellowship: A way to train the brain and prevent dementia

                                                  2019 – 2024

                                                  Ministry of Research and Education Baden-Württemberg: Margarete-von-Wrangell-Fellowship

                                                  2019 – 2023

                                                  novartis-foundation

                                                  Novartis Foundation for Medical Research: A new mouse model for vascular dementia to understand memory decline on a cellular resolution level

                                                  2019 – 2020

                                                  Center for Neuroscience (ZNZ) Zurich

                                                  Center for Neuroscience (ZNZ) Zurich: A new mouse model for vascular dementia to understand memory formation and degeneration on a cellular resolution level

                                                  2019 – 2022

                                                  Center for Neuroscience (ZNZ) Zurich: Collaborative grant to establish different brain stimulation protocols

                                                  2022 – 2023

                                                  SNF

                                                  Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) Grant Number: 192678: Closing the loop from functional reorganization of the peri-infarct cortex to recovery of skilled motor functions after stroke

                                                  2020 – 2023

                                                  Hurka Foundation: 

                                                  Hurka Foundation: Examining the role of altered microglia-neuron interactions to promote pro-epileptic network activity leading to dementia after stroke

                                                  2021 – 2023

                                                  Alzheimer Foundation, Switzerland: Similarities and differences between Alzheimer`s disease and vascular dementia concerning aberrant hippocampa network coding

                                                  2022 – 2025

                                                  DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

                                                  2Photon-Laser-Scanning Microscope for chronic in-vivo experiments

                                                  2022

                                                  SyNergy - Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology

                                                  SyNergy Prefessorship “Neuroanatomy"

                                                  2022 – 

                                                  Contact

                                                  Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD)
                                                  University Hospital, LMU Munich

                                                  Director: Prof. Dr. med. Martin Dichgans

                                                  Feodor-Lynen-Straße 17
                                                  81377 Munich, Germany

                                                  Phone: +49 (0)89 4400 46019
                                                  www.isd-research.de
                                                  Send a Mail

                                                  Partners

                                                  Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik der Universität München

                                                  DZNE – Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen

                                                  SyNergy – Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology

                                                  Redakteurs Log-In
                                                  • Imprint
                                                  • Privacy Policy
                                                  © Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD)
                                                • LMU Munich
                                                • University Hospital
                                                • ISD Research

                                                  • Our Labs
                                                    • Dichgans Lab
                                                    • Bernhagen Lab
                                                    • Simons Lab
                                                    • Liesz Lab
                                                    • Ewers Lab
                                                    • Paquet Lab
                                                    • Plesnila Lab
                                                    • Erturk Lab
                                                    • Wahl Lab
                                                    • Duering Lab
                                                    • Gokce Lab
                                                    • Benakis Lab
                                                    • Franzmeier Lab
                                                    • Jäkel Lab
                                                    • Tiedt Lab
                                                    • Georgakis Lab
                                                  • News
                                                  • Publications
                                                  • About us
                                                    • Contact
                                                    • How to get there
                                                    • Management
                                                    • Scientific Advisory Board
                                                    • Imprint
                                                    • Privacy Policy
                                                    • Media
                                                    • Diversity at the ISD
                                                  • Funding
                                                  • Open positions
                                                  • For Patients