Christian Broberger

Christian Broberger is a Professor of Neurochemistry at Stockholm University's Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. His research focuses on understanding the organization of brain circuits that control innate behaviors such as aggression, reproduction, feeding, and sleep, with particular emphasis on the hypothalamus as an evolutionary old part of the brain that interfaces with the endocrine system.

Dr. Broberger's research interests span the intersection of neurochemistry, behavioral neuroscience, and neuroendocrinology. His laboratory investigates how behavior emerges from the electrical properties of neurons and the connections formed through chemical and electrical synapses. Key research areas include:

• Neural circuit organization controlling innate behaviors
• Hypothalamic regulation of aggression and social behaviors
• Electrical coupling through gap junctions in neural networks
• Neuroendocrine regulation through dopamine systems
• Neural mechanisms underlying reproductive behaviors
• Calcium-binding proteins in neuronal function

His research employs a diverse range of techniques including electrophysiology, histochemistry, voltammetry, optogenetics, cell culture, and behavioral paradigms to study the central nervous system at multiple levels of organization. Recent work has particularly focused on understanding species-specific patterns of electrical coupling, neural networks controlling aggression, and dopamine regulation in neuroendocrine systems.

Dr. Broberger has received recognition for his contributions to neuroscience through publications in high-impact journals including CELL, NATURE NEUROSCIENCE, JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, and E-LIFE.

He supervises several PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, fostering the next generation of neuroscientists. Current members of his research group include Olga Netsyk (Researcher), Arash Hellysaz (Guest Researcher), Jimena Ferraris (Postdoc), Andrea Locarno (Postdoc), Debora Masini (Postdoc), Paul Williams (Postdoc), Roksana Khalid (PhD student), and Andriana Mantzafou (PhD student).

His laboratory maintains active research projects including "Anger Management: Neuronal Network Organization, Plasticity and Sex-Specificity in Aggression" and "E Pluribus Unum: Principles and Plasticity of Electrical Coupling in a Neuronal Network," investigating fundamental questions about how social behaviors are organized at the neural circuit level.