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Our research group, which is integrated into the Department of Neurophysiology, is interested in the neuromodulation of neuronal circuits and animal behavior. Neuromodulators, such as dopamine and noradrenaline, regulate a plethora of brain functions and behaviors, while disbalanced neuromodulation is associated with various pathological conditions. Despite their ubiquitous roles in brain function, we are still far from a complete understanding of neuromodulatory processes, mainly due to their diffuse effects on postsynaptic targets and due to technical limitations. Our group combines state-of-the-art, real-time monitoring of neuronal activity, transmitter release, and second messenger dynamics with classical behavioral paradigms such as fear conditioning. Using these approaches these approaches we aim to understand how different neuromodulatory systems interact, how they are integrated in postsynaptic target circuits, and how they steer animal behavior.
Team
Dr. rer. nat. Alexander Dieter
Group leader
Alex studied biology in Frankfurt/Main (2010–2013) before completing a master’s degree in neuroscience at Göttingen University (2013–2015). For his PhD research, he explored the potential of optogenetics for hearing restoration at the Institute for Auditory Neuroscience in Göttingen. He then joined the lab of Simon Wiegert, first at the Center for Molecular Neurobiology in Hamburg and later at the Medical Faculty Mannheim, where he shifted his research focus to catecholaminergic modulation of neuronal circuits. Since 2025, Alex serves as a principal investigator in the DFG-funded research group FOR 5807, “Dynamic Integration of GPCR Signaling to Control Organ Function and Animal Behavior”.
Cristina Baio
PhD student
Lena Eschholz
PhD student*
Jorin Kühn
MD student
Maximilian Löffler
MD student
Patricia Scharf
Master student*
*co-supervised with Prof. Dr. Simon Wiegert
Funding
DFG: DI3034/1-1 within FOR5807, since 2025
Hamburg Innovation: C4T734 (with A Formozov and S Wiegert), 2022-2023
Selected publications
- Wissing C*, Eschholz LS*, (…), Wiegert JS#, Dieter A#: A comparison of viral strategies and model systems to target norepinephrine neurons in the locus coeruleus reveals high variability in transgene expression patterns . PLOS Biology, 2025. * equal contribution, # shared correspondence
- Kagiampaki Z, (…), Dieter A, (…), Wiegert JS, (…), Patriarchi T: Sensitive multicolor indicators for monitoring norepinephrine in vivo . Nature Methods, 2023.
- Rohner VL, (…), Eschholz LS, Dieter A, …, Wiegert JS, …, Patriarchi T: Next-generation multicolor indicators for in vivo imaging of norepinephrine . Nature Methods, 2026.
- Formozov A*, Dieter A*, Wiegert JS: A flexible and versatile system for multi-color fiber photometry and optogenetic manipulation . Cell Reports Methods, 2023. * equal contribution
- Vierock J, Rodriguez-Rozada S, Dieter A, (…), Wiegert JS: BiPOLES is an optogentic tool developed for bidirectional dual-color control of neurons . Nature Communications, 2021.
- Yang W, Chini M, Pöpplau JA, Formozov A, Dieter A, (…), Wiegert JS: Anesthetics fragment hippocampal network activity, alter spine dynamics, and affect memory consolidation . PLOS Biology, 2021.
