News from the lab

Talk at the FENS Forum 2026 in Barcelona

In July 2026 I will give a talk at the FENS Forum in Barcelona titled “Real-time oxygen imaging reveals spontaneous cortical hypoxic pockets in the healthy brain”. Loss of consciousness occurs within seconds after cerebral blood flow ceases, as the brain’s lack of oxygen storage rapidly compromises oxidative phosphorylation. Yet, cortical partial oxygen tension (PO₂) dynamics under normal physiological conditions remain poorly characterized, largely due to the limited spatio-temporal resolution of existing measurement techniques. To address this, we recently introduced Green enhanced Nano-Lantern (GeNL), as a genetically encoded bioluminescent oxygen sensor that enables PO₂ imaging in vivo. In the living mouse brain, GeNL bioluminescence intensity exhibits a linear dependence on oxygen availability. Using this approach, we identified spontaneous, spatially confined “hypoxic pockets” in awake, active mice, which were associated with disrupted local capillary perfusion. Strikingly, exercise reduced the prevalence of these hypoxic pockets by 52% compared to rest. Together, these findings not only provide new insights into cortical oxygen dynamics in awake, behaving animals but also establish GeNL as a powerful tool for investigating oxygen tension and in particular transient hypoxia in physiological processes and in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Speaker: Felix Beinlich (København N, Denmark)
Session: S53 – Astroglial and Vascular Mechanisms of Metabolic Adaptations to Hypoxia
Friday, July 10, 09:45 AM – 11:15 AM · HALL E
Track: F. Internal States and Homeostasis, Scientific Symposia (S)

Conference Talk

Tohoku University Seminar and 48th Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society

In July 2025 I was invited to give a seminar for faculty and students at the Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University about "Oxygen imaging of hypoxic pockets in the mouse cerebral cortex". I also attended the 48th Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society.

Conference Talk

Talk at Brain Microcirculation – Aarhus CTH Workshop 2024

In December 2024 I had the pleasure to give a talk at the Brain Microcirculation workshop hosted by Aarhus CTH, presenting our latest findings on cortical oxygen dynamics.

Conference Talk

Talk at the 15th International Conference on Brain Energy Metabolism (ICBEM)

In September 2024 I gave a talk at the 15th ICBEM (brainenergymetabolism.org) presenting our work on oxygen dynamics and hypoxic pockets in the cortex.

Conference Talk