Alexander Fleischmann

About

Alexander Fleischmann is the Provost's Professor of Brain Science at Brown University, who joined the Brown Neuroscience Department in January 2018. His laboratory focuses on understanding how neural circuits generate sensory perception and behavior, particularly in the mouse olfactory cortex. His research employs molecular genetic, in vivo imaging, computational, and behavioral approaches to explore the fundamental properties of neural networks involved in odor information coding, neural cell type contributions, and the transmission of sensory information to downstream areas involved in sensory integration, cognition, and motor control. Fleischmann's work has led to the development of new molecular genetic and viral techniques for targeting and manipulating neural cell types, as well as characterizing odor coding principles through in vivo microscopy, electrophysiology, and computational methods. His research also investigates how learning and experience influence olfactory neural network functions and behavior.

Research topics

• Biology
• Computational biology
• Cell biology
• Genetics
• Neuroscience

Selected publications

• Molecular characterization of projection neuron subtypes in the mouse olfactory bulb

  eLife · 2021 · 61 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Projection neurons (PNs) in the mammalian olfactory bulb (OB) receive input from the nose and project to diverse cortical and subcortical areas. Morphological and physiological studies have highlighted functional heterogeneity, yet no molecular markers have been described that delineate PN subtypes. Here, we used viral injections into olfactory cortex and fluorescent nucleus sorting to enrich PNs for high-throughput single nucleus and bulk RNA deep sequencing. Transcriptome analysis and RNA in s…

  DOI

• Opposing, spatially-determined epigenetic forces impose restrictions on stochastic olfactory receptor choice

  eLife · 2023-12-18 · 23 citations

  articleOpen access

  Olfactory receptor (OR) choice represents an example of genetically hardwired stochasticity, where every olfactory neuron expresses one out of ~2000 OR alleles in the mouse genome in a probabilistic, yet stereotypic fashion. Here, we propose that topographic restrictions in OR expression are established in neuronal progenitors by two opposing forces: polygenic transcription and genomic silencing, both of which are influenced by dorsoventral gradients of transcription factors NFIA, B, and X. Poly…

  PublisherDOI

• Odors in space

  Frontiers in Neural Circuits · 2024-06-24 · 10 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  As an evolutionarily ancient sense, olfaction is key to learning where to find food, shelter, mates, and important landmarks in an animal's environment. Brain circuitry linking odor and navigation appears to be a well conserved multi-region system among mammals; the anterior olfactory nucleus, piriform cortex, entorhinal cortex, and hippocampus each represent different aspects of olfactory and spatial information. We review recent advances in our understanding of the neural circuits underlying o…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Single-cell genomics of the mouse olfactory cortex reveals contrasts with neocortex and ancestral signatures of cell type evolution

  Nature Neuroscience · 2025-04-08 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Perspective on Neuroscience Data Standardization with Neurodata Without Borders

  Journal of Neuroscience · 2024-09-18 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Neuroscience research has evolved to generate increasingly large and complex experimental data sets, and advanced data science tools are taking on central roles in neuroscience research. Neurodata Without Borders (NWB), a standard language for neurophysiology data, has recently emerged as a powerful solution for data management, analysis, and sharing. We here discuss our labs' efforts to implement NWB data science pipelines. We describe general principles and specific use cases that illustrate s…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Claire Meissner-Bernard

  Friedrich Miescher Institute

  57 shared

• Yulia Dembitskaya

  Université de Bordeaux

  54 shared

• Laurent Venance

  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

  54 shared

• Nell Klimpert

  Allen Institute for Brain Science

  52 shared

• Benjamin Shykind

  39 shared

• Assunta Diodato

  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

  39 shared

• Benjamin Roland

  Inserm

  39 shared

• Sara Zeppilli

  Brown University

  37 shared

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