Dr. Wehr studies how local circuits in the cerebral cortex encode and transform sensory information. His laboratory uses mouse auditory cortex as a model system to investigate how cellular and network properties shape cortical responses to a continuous and temporally complex stream of sensory data. Research in his lab combines aspects of both cellular, systems, and theoretical neuroscience, by using the tools of molecular biology and cellular physiology to address systems-level questions. By using a variety of methods including optogenetics, in vivo whole-cell and single-unit electrophysiology, quantitative behavior, and imaging, the laboratory is trying to identify the cellular and synaptic mechanisms with which cortical circuits process auditory information, leading ultimately to our perceptual experiences of acoustic streams, such as music and speech.
Dr. Wehr is not accepting new graduate students for Fall 2024.
To learn more about current research, and to download publications, please visit https://wehrlab.uoregon.edu/
Selected Publications:
Yavorska, I, Wehr, M (2021) Effects of Locomotion in Auditory Cortex Are Not Mediated by the VIP Network. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 07 April 2021 https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2021.618881
Sattler Nicholas J., Wehr Michael, (2021) A Head-Mounted Multi-Camera System for Electrophysiology and Behavior in Freely-Moving Mice. Frontiers in Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.592417
Weible A., Yavorska I., Kayal D., Duckler U., Wehr M. (2020) A layer 3→5 circuit in auditory cortex that contributes to pre-pulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response. Frontiers in Neural Circuits https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2020.553208
Weible, A., Stebritz, A., Wehr, M. (2020). 5XFAD mice show early onset gap encoding deficits in auditory cortex. Neurobiology of Aging doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2020.05.013. pdf
Weible, A., Yavorska, I., Wehr, M. (2020). A cortico-collicular amplification mechanism for gap detection. Cerebral Cortex Feb 14; doi.org/10.1093/cercor/hbz328.
O'Sullvan, C., Weible, A., Wehr, M. (2020.) Disruption of early or late epochs of auditory cortical activity impairs speech discrimination in mice. Frontiers in Neuroscience Jan 10; doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.01394.
Saunders J., Wehr M. (2019) Autopilot: Automating experiments with lots of Raspberry Pis. bioRxiv, Oct 17. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/807693v2 . pdf
O'Sullivan, C., Weible, A., and Wehr, M. (2019). Auditory cortex contributes to discrimination of pure tones. eNeuro, Oct 7; doi.org/10.1523/eneuro.0340-19.2019.