Alexander Borst

Prof. Dr. Alexander Borst serves as Director and Head of the Department of Circuits – Computation – Models at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence. His research focuses on understanding neural computation at the level of individual neurons and small neural circuits, with particular emphasis on visual course control in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

His primary research interests span Cellular & Systems Neuroscience, Theoretical Neuroscience & Technical Applications, and Molecular & Developmental Neuroscience. His laboratory investigates how the brain computes visual motion, leveraging Drosophila as a model system due to its tractable neural circuits (typically 10-20 neurons) and genetic accessibility for manipulation and recording. Key research areas include mechanisms of direction selectivity, neuroethology of motion vision, and dendrite development in direction-selective neurons.

Analysis of Prof. Borst's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on Drosophila motion vision mechanisms, with emphasis on direction-selective T4/T5 neurons, parallel ON/OFF pathways, and circuit-level computation. His work integrates molecular, cellular, and systems approaches to uncover fundamental principles of neural information processing.

Prof. Borst actively mentors graduate students through the GSN program, with current students including Amalia Braun, Cemre Coskun, Melisa Oezmen, and Sophie Schmidt-Hamkens, and numerous successful PhD graduates who have made significant contributions to the field.

His department employs a comprehensive experimental toolkit including Neurogenetics, Molecular Characterization, Electrophysiology, 2-Photon Functional Imaging, Tethered and Free Behavior analysis, and Computational Modeling to investigate the neural basis of motion vision in Drosophila.