Page 52 - Rappaport Institute Magazine 2024

PHYSIOLOGY, BIOPHYSICS AND SYSTEMS BIOLOGY
Shimon Marom, MD, PhD Professor of Physiology
PhD, 1989 – Technion, Israel MD, 1992 – Technion, Israel
Electrical phenomena in neural networks, cells and proteins: dynamics and function
My main experimental and theoretical work focuses on electrical excitability – a fundamental phenomenon underlying key functions of organisms at various levels. What makes this phenomenon particularly attractive for mechanistic analysis is that, unlike most other biological processes, the physics and chemistry of it are deeply understood, ab initio. I apply closed-loop methodological designs as means for both system identification and modeling of bioelectrical phenomena and their self-organization in proteins, cells, and networks.
In a somewhat orthogonal direction – the field of critical thinking – I offer a relational framework as a space for dialogue between physiology and psychology; an alternative to biological determinism that has plagued current approaches to behavioral and brain sciences.
Selected Publications
Key overview publications — more relevant for general audience and then purpose of the compilation
ˆ [review] Marom, S., & Marder, E. (2023). A biophysical perspective on the resilience of neuronal excitability across timescales. Nature Reviews Neuroscience
ˆ [monograph] Marom, S. (2015). Science, Psychoanalysis, and the Brain: Space for Dialogue. Cambridge University Press
ˆ [review] Marom, S. (2010). Neural timescales or lack thereof. Progress in Neurobiology
ˆ [review] Marom, S., & Shahaf, G. (2002). Development, learning and memory in large random networks of cortical neurons: Lessons beyond anatomy. Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics
Key research publications — less interesting for general audience
ˆ Shahaf, G., & Marom, S. (2001). Learning in Networks of Cortical Neurons, J. Neuroscience
ˆ Eytan, D., & Marom, S. (2006). Dynamics and effective topology underlying synchronization in networks of cortical neurons. J. Neuroscience
ˆ Gal, A., & Marom, S. (2013). Entrainment of the intrinsic dynamics of single isolated neurons by natural-like input. J. Neuroscience
ˆ Ori, H., Marder, E., & Marom, S. (2018). Cellular function given parametric variation in the Hodgkin and Huxley model of excitability. PNAS
Grants and Awards
1994 Sir Bernard Katz Prize (Heidelberg, Germany)
ISF; European Commission; Center for Complexity Science
2008 Shaked Brain Research Prize (Bar-Ilan University, Israel)
2022 Schaefer Research Scholar Prize (Columbia University, New York) Collaborators
Eve Marder – Brandeis University
Itamar Kahn – Columbia University
Paolo del Judice (deceased 2021) – ISS Rome
Noam Ziv, Erez Braun, Ron Meir, Naama Brenner – Technion
marom@technion.ac.il
Shimon Marom Lab
Electrophysiological recordings from axonal branches.
(Left) Electrodes underneath axon branches of a
single cortical neuron. Each electrode is color-coded, indicating time of arrival relative to spike time recorded by an electrode at the soma (marked with
a black arrow). (Right) Hundreds of signals recorded simultaneously in depicted electrodes, temporally aligned according to the unit’s spike events (bottom trace). Note differences in signal-to-noise ratio between axonal electrodes.