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Jonas Schimmer

PostDoc

Department Neuropeptide Research in Psychiatry

Institute Psychopharmacology

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About me

I joined Valery Grinevich's lab during my Bachelor's degree. Since then, I have developed a deep interest in how oxytocin orchestrates different social behaviours. During my PhD, I worked on deciphering the role of oxytocin signalling in the ventral hippocampus in relation to socio-sexual behaviour. In parallel, I investigated the alteration of the oxytocin system by ethanol intoxication and the influence of oxytocin on ethanol addiction. I am now working as a postdoc in the psychopharmacology department, focusing on oxytocin and drug addiction, while also continuing my PhD project.

 

Jonas holds a PhD in Biology and an MSc in Neuroscience, as well as two Bachelor's degrees: one in Molecular Biology and one in Applied Computer Science. He is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in our team.

Expertise

Animal behaviorStereotactic Injections
ImmunohistochemistryComputational analysis
Publications in peer reviewed journals since 2006

TOP 5 publications:

  1. Tang Y, Benusiglio D, Lefevre A, Hilfiger L, Althammer F, Bludau A, Hagiwara D, Baudon A, Darbon P, Schimmer J, Kirchner MK, Roy RK, Wang S, Eliava M, Wagner S, Oberhuber M, Conzelmann KK, Schwarz M, Stern JE, Leng G, Neumann ID, Charlet A, Grinevich V. Social touch promotes interfemale communication via activation of parvocellular oxytocin neurons.Nat Neurosci. 2020 23(9):1125-1137. Epub 2020 Jul 27.
  2. Iwasaki M, Lefevre A, Althammer F, Clauss Creusot E, Łąpieś O, Petitjean H, Hilfiger L, Kerspern D, Melchior M, Küppers S, Krabichler Q, Patwell R, Kania A, Gruber T, Kirchner MK, Wimmer M, Fröhlich H, Dötsch L, Schimmer J, Herpertz SC, Ditzen B, Schaaf CP, Schönig K, Bartsch D, Gugula A, Trenk A, Blasiak A, Stern JE, Darbon P, Grinevich V, Charlet A. An analgesic pathway from parvocellular oxytocin neurons to the periaqueductal gray in rats.Nat Commun. 2023 14(1):1066.
  3. Hasan MT, Althammer F, Silva da Gouveia M, Goyon S, Eliava M, Lefevre A, Kerspern D, Schimmer J, Raftogianni A, Wahis J, Knobloch-Bollmann HS, Tang Y, Liu X, Jain A, Chavant V, Goumon Y, Weislogel JM, Hurlemann R, Herpertz SC, Pitzer C, Darbon P, Dogbevia GK, Bertocchi I, Larkum ME, Sprengel R, Bading H, Charlet A, Grinevich V. A Fear Memory Engram and Its Plasticity in the Hypothalamic Oxytocin System.Neuron. 2019 103(1):133-146. Epub 2019 May 13.
  4. Althammer F, Wimmer MC, Krabichler Q, Küppers S, Schimmer J, Fröhlich H, Dötsch L, Gruber T, Wunsch S, Schubert T, Kirchner MK, Stern JE, Charlet A, Grinevich V, Schaaf CP. Analysis of the hypothalamic oxytocin system and oxytocin receptor-expressing astrocytes in a mouse model of Prader-Willi syndrome.J Neuroendocrinol. 2022 34(12):e13217. Epub 2022 Dec 1.
  5. Schimmer J, Patwell R, Küppers S, Grinevich V. The Relationship Between Oxytocin and Alcohol Dependence.Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2025 71:347-378. Epub 2023 Sep 12.

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