Uwe Jürgens

Professor, Head of the Neurobiology Department at the German Primate Center

• 1961 - 66 Studies of biology at the University of Munich, Germany
  

• 1966 - 91 Research associate at the Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Munich
  

• 1969 Degree of Dr. rer. nat. in Zoology
  

• 1976 Degree of Dr. rer. nat. habil. in Zoology
  

• Since 1991 Head of the Neurobiology Department at the German Primate Center, Göttingen, and Professor of Zoology at the University of Göttingen

Major Research Interests:

Uwe Jürgens

The aim of our research is to better understand the central control of phonation. Phonation is a complex behaviour, consisting of essentially three components: vocal fold adduction, expiration and articulation. It is still unclear where in the brain and in which way these three components are integrated into a specific vocal pattern. We are approaching this problem in three ways. First, we are looking for brain areas showing vocalization-correlated activity. This search is carried out by the help of a recently developed telemetric technique which allows us to record the electrical activity of single neurones in freely moving squirrel monkeys during spontaneous vocal communication. Second, we are studying the neuroanatomical connections of electrophysiologically identified vocalization-related brain structures using anterograde and retrograde tracing techniques in the squirrel monkey and rhesus monkey. Third, we try to characterize vocalization-controlling pathways neuropharmacologically by testing the effects of stereotactically injected transmitter antagonists on electrically elicited vocalization or vocal fold movements, respectively.

Address:
German Primate
Center
Department of
Neurobiology
Kellnerweg 4

37077 Göttingen
Germany

phone:+49-551-38 51250
fax:+49-551-38 51302
e-mail: 

Further Information:
http://www.dpz.gwdg.de/
neuro/dept.html

Selected Recent Publications:

Grohrock P, Häusler U, Jürgens U (1997) Dual-channel telemetry system for recording vocalization-correlated neuronal activity in freely moving squirrel monkeys. J Neurosci Methods 76: 7-13

Jürgens U (1999) Primate communication: Signaling, vocalization. In: Adelman G, Smith B H (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Elsevier Amsterdam p 1694-1697

Düsterhöft F, Häusler U, Jürgens U (2000) On the search for the vocal pattern generator. A single-unit recording study. Neuroreport 11: 2031-2034

Fichtel C, Hammerschmidt K, Jürgens U (2001) On the vocal expression of emotion. A multi- parametric analysis of different states of aversion in the squirrel monkey. Behaviour 138: 97-116.

Simonyan K, Jürgens U (2002) Cortico-cortical projections of the motorcortical larynx area in the rhesus monkey. Brain Res 949: 23-31.

Pieper F, Jürgens U (2003) Neuronal activity in the inferior colliculus and bordering structures during vocalization in the squirrel monkey. Brain Res 979: 153-164.