The work of the research group Molecular Neurophysiology headed by Tanja Brigadski has a long-lasting interest in the cellular processing and function of neurotrophins. The major aims of this research group are to understand the contribution of neurotrophin-signalling during pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases in more detail. The focus of the group lies in the intracellular processing of the precursor-neurotrophin Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (proBDNF) and its specific signalling pathways, the transport of neurotrophin-containing secretory granules to transmitter-specific synapses under physiological and pathophysiological conditions including Alzheimer’s disease and the role of neurotrophins in synaptic development and synaptic plasticity. The group has a strong expertise in live cell imaging to visualise transport and activity-dependent secretion of GFP-tagged neurotrophins in cultured neurons and brain slices under physiological and pathophysiological conditions.  Furthermore, the group is an expert in electrophysiological techniques measuring intra-und extracellular recordings. The group has developed the juxtacellular transfection method, a method which enables identification of neurons by juxtacellular recording prior to single-cell juxtacellular transfection. This technique allows analysis of morphological and electrophysiological parameters of single modified cells in an otherwise unchanged network. Besides this molecular and cell biological orientation, the research group also focuses on applied medical questions such as the level of circulating BDNF in patients with neurodegenerative or mental diseases.