Motoharu Yoshida

Dr. Motoharu Yoshida serves as a Group Leader at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Magdeburg, Germany. His research focuses on neural computation in the medial temporal lobe structures (hippocampus and entorhinal cortex), which underpin memory and spatial navigation functions with direct relevance to Alzheimer's disease and temporal lobe epilepsy.

Yoshida investigates TRPC channels' role in temporal association memory, demonstrating their modulation of persistent firing in hippocampal CA1 neurons through immunohistochemical and electrophysiological methods. His computational models reveal how TRPC channels enable coexistence of persistent firing with theta oscillations. Current work involves in vivo TRPC manipulations to assess behavioral impacts.

In the medial entorhinal cortex, his group studies grid cell formation mechanisms, identifying dorso-ventral axis variations in neuronal properties (e.g., spike adaptation ratios) that may explain grid spacing differences during path integration for spatial navigation.

His laboratory combines in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology, computational simulations, and immunohistochemical techniques to investigate neural network dynamics in memory and navigation systems.