Professor Mikko Juusola

Professor of Systems Neuroscience
Department of Biomedical Science
Alfred Denny Building
The University of Sheffield
Western Bank
Sheffield S10 2TN
United Kingdom

Room: B2 222b (office), B2 218 (lab1), B2 219 (lab2)
Telephone: +44 (0) 114 222 1087

email : M.Juusola@sheffield.ac.uk

Research Interests

• Neural processing, particularly in the visual system of Drosophila
• Efficient codes and circuitry, form-function relationships, attention, learning and memory

Highlighted Discoveries in:

• Stochastic adaptive sampling: explaining the structure and function of fly photoreceptors
• Neural computations: multiple spectral inputs improve motion discrimination
• Sensory evolution: information processing matches ecological demands
• Decision making: intrinsic activity in the fly brain gates visual choices
• Network adaptation: improving signalling in the first optic neuropil
• Synaptic feedbacks: dynamic regulation of photoreceptor output
• Cortical codes: action potential waveform code
• Information theory: measuring information transfer of any signalling system
• Neural filtering: value of ion channels in neural information transfer
• In vivo experimentation: Drosophila for intracellular electrophysiology
• Sensory transformations: 1^st direct efficiency estimate of sensory codes

Read more on research in the Juusola laboratory

Popular science article about our research by Marie McCulloch

History

Career

• 2013-Present: Jane and Aatos Erkko Research Fellow (PI)
• 2013-present: Professor of Systems Neuroscience (PI)
  Drosophila Vision Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield
• 2012-Present: Visiting Professor (PI)
  Cognition in Small Brains Institute, National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
• 2005-2012: Reader (PI)
  Drosophila Vision Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield
• 2008-2012: Guest Professor (PI)
  National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
• 1999-2007: Royal Society University Research Fellow (PI), Universities of Cambridge & Sheffield
• 1997-1999: Academy of Finland Research Fellow (PI), University of Cambridge, UK
• 1996: Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge, UK
• 1995-1996: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Dalhousie University, Canada
• 1993-1995: Alberta Heritage Foundation Medical Research Fellow, University of Alberta, Canada

Education

• 1993, Ph. D. (Neurophysiology), University of Oulu, Finland
• 1993, M.D., University of Oulu, Finland

View Mikko's website in BNU

Activities and Distinctions

• Visiting Professor and PI in State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
• Visiting Professor in Department of Physics and Docent of Neurophysiology, University of Oulu, Finland
• Grant reviewer for UK/EU/US Research Councils and Charities
• Reviewer for many leading scientific journals
• Teacher in many advanced international courses
• Examiner of higher degrees in UK and abroad

Current Grant Funding

• The Leverhulme Trust
• BBSRC
• Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, Finland
• The University of Sheffield
• National Science Foundation of China
• National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Beijing, China
  
• Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

Publications in 2011-12

• Heimonen, K., Immonen, E.-V., Frolov, R., Salmela, I., Juusola, M., Vähäsöyrinki, M., and Weckström, M.* (2012).
  Signal coding in cockroach photoreceptors is tuned to dim environments.
  J. Neurophysiol. 108: 2641-2652.
• Song, Z., Postma, M., Billings, S.A., Coca, D*, Hardie, R.C* & Juusola, M* (2012).
  Stochastic, Adaptive Sampling of Information by Microvilli in Fly Photoreceptors.
  Current Biology 22: 1371-1380.
• Wardill, T.J., List, O., Li, X., Dongre, S., McCulloch, M., Ting, C.Y., O’Kane, C.J., Tang, S., Lee, C.H., Hardie, R.C. & Juusola, M.* (2012).
  Multiple Spectral Inputs Improve Motion Discrimination in the Drosophila Visual System.
  Science 336: 925-931.
• Friederich, U., Billings, S.A., Juusola, M.* & Coca, D.* (2012).
  Reverse Engineering Gain Adaptation in Sensory Systems.
  Acta Press, Proceedings of the 9th IASTED International Conference on Biomedical Engineering, doi:10.2316/P.2012.764-125.
• Lipscomb, L., Parkin, C.A., Juusola, M. & Winder, S.J.* (2011).
  The proteasomal inhibitor MG132 prevents muscular dystrophy in zebrafish.
  PLoS Currents: Muscular Dystrophy. 3: RRN1286. doi: 10.1371/currents.RRN1286
• Abou Tayoun, A.N., Li, X., Chu, B., Hardie, R.C., Juusola, M.* & Dolph, P.J.* (2011).
  The Drosophila SK channel (dSK) contributes to photoreceptor performance by mediating sensitivity control at the first visual network.
  J. Neurosci. 31: 13897-13910.
• Gonzalez-Bellido, P.T., Wardill, T.J. & Juusola, M.* (2011).
  Compound eyes and retinal information processing in miniature dipteran species match their specific ecological demands.
  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108: 4224-4229.

View a full list of Mikko's publications

Group Members

• Zhuoji Song, Post-Doc
• Florence Blanchard, Post-Doc
• An Dau, Ph.D. student
• Sidhartha Dongre, Ph.D. student
• Raúl Gil de Sagredo, Ph.D. student (primary supervisor: Gonzalo de Polavieja, Cajal Institute, Madrid)
• Esa-Ville Immonen, Ph.D. student (co-supervised by Mikko Vähäsöyrinki & Matti Weckström, Univ. Oulu, Finland)
• Antti Vähäkainu, Ph.D. student (co-supervised by Mikko Vähäsöyrinki & Matti Weckström, Univ. Oulu, Finland)