Rate My Professor John Bekkers

Bekkers' research investigates neurons and neural circuits underlying the sense of smell in the mammalian brain, particularly in the primary olfactory cortex or piriform cortex of mice. His group examines how the brain encodes odour identity, how neural patterns change with learning, and why the olfactory cortex is prone to epilepsy. Techniques employed include patch-clamp electrophysiology in vivo and in vitro, two-photon microscopy, optogenetics, and computer modelling. This work addresses broader questions about sensory processing and potential links to disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and epilepsy. Bekkers has received the Griffith University Medal, a Commonwealth Scholarship to the UK, the Gedge Prize in Biology from Cambridge University, a Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellowship, an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship, and the Award for Education in Neuroscience from the US Society for Neuroscience. Key publications include "Dopamine Increases the Intrinsic Excitability of Parvalbumin-Expressing Fast-Spiking Cells in the Piriform Cortex" (2022, Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience), "Fast and slow feedforward inhibitory circuits for cortical odor processing" (2022, eLife), and "Autaptic Cultures: Methods and Applications" (2020, Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience). He is an internationally recognized expert and has provided media commentary on neuroscience topics.