Prof. Dr. Ilka Diester

Optophysiology

2025–2027 Section Speaker for Systems Neurobiology on the board of the German Neuroscience Society (NWG) for the 2025–2027 term
Since 2024 Spokesperson of the Center BrainLinks-BrainTools
Since 2024 Member of the speaker team of the research field Brain & Intelligence of the University of Freiburg
Since 2020 Managing director IMBIT – Intelligent Machine-Brain Interfacing Technology
Since 2014 Full Professor of Optophysiology (W3), University of Freiburg
2011–2014 Research Group Leader, Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI), Frankfurt
2008–2011 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Stanford University, USA
2003–2008 PhD Dr. rer. nat., University Tübingen
1998–2003 Diploma in Biology, Humboldt University Berlin

Diester I, Bartos M, Bödecker J, Kortylewski A, Leibold C, Letzkus J,Nour MM, Schönauer M, Straw A, Valada A, Vlachos A, Brox T(2024) Internal world models in humans, animals, and AI.Neuron:112: 2265-2268. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.06.019
Schneider A, Zimmermann C, Alyahyay M, Steenbergen F, Brox T, Diester I (2022) 3D pose estimation enables virtual head fixation in freely moving rats. Neuron 110:2080-2093 e2010. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.04.019 (OA)
Melbaum S, Russo E, Eriksson D, Schneider A, Durstewitz D, Brox T, Diester I (2022) Conserved structures of neural activity in sensorimotor cortex of freely moving rats allow cross-subject decoding. Nat Commun 13:7420. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35115-6 (OA)
Eriksson D, Schneider A, Thirumalai A, Alyahyay M, de la Crompe B, Sharma K, Ruther P, Diester I (2022) Multichannel optogenetics combined with laminar recordings for ultra-controlled neuronal interrogation. Nat Commun 13:985. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28629-6 (OA)
Karvat G, Alyahyay M, Diester I (2021) Spontaneous activity competes with externally evoked responses in sensory cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 118. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2023286118 (OA)