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Katja Slangewal's personal page

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Katja Slangewal
Katja Slangewal
PhD Student
ZT902 +49-7531-88-5601

Bio
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Larval zebrafish decisions: Larval zebrafish follow motion, an innate behavior called the optomotor response, and prefer to swim in brighter areas, another innate behavior called positive phototaxis. When motion goes right, but there is brightness on the left, what does the fish decide?

How does the brain transform sensory inputs into useful behaviour? I am interested in this question in the context of decision-making. Animals continuously receive sensory cues from the environment. Sometimes these cues line up and make it easy to decide on the next action. But often sensory cues conflict - one thing telling the animal to go left and another to go right. How are such cues combined in our brain? Which algorithms are used to integrate the sensory information? And what are the neural circuits that implement these algorithms?

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Behind the scenes: There is me staring at the brain of a larval zebrafish.

I am trying to answer these questions using a variety of methods available in the larval zebrafish. From quantitative behavioral analyses, to computational modelling, two-photon calcium imaging, and anatomical tracings of neural morphology. Together these perspectives highlight how larval zebrafish extract multiple features from visual scenes containing motion and luminance cues. The fish temporally integrate motion and luminance, and also compute the absolute change in luminance. They then linearly add these three visual features to guide the direction of their next swim bout. The integration of visual features appears in the anterior hindbrain, a brain region at the boundary of the sensori-to-motor transformation. The anatomy of the involved neurons suggests a parallel and spatially distinct pathway of each feature into the anterior hindbrain neurons which integrate information. This gives a first glimpse into the neural circuitry underlying visual information integration for decision-making.

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Neural circuit underlying visual information integration: these are the neurons involved in the integration of visual information. The pink, purple, and orange neurons take care of detecting changes in brightness. The yellow neurons integration the luminance level over time. The green neurons integrate motion over time. And finally, the blue neurons integrate all this information together.

When I am not in the lab you can find me somewhere hiking or running in the mountains, trying to jump as high as I can, or playing boardgames with friends.

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Lab hike to Schesaplanehütte: We had an amazing time in the Swiss Schesaplana region.

Projects
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Methods
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Thesis
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Title Multi feature visual processing in larval zebrafish
Type PhD thesis
Period 2021/05–2026/04
Summary How do brains integrate sensory information to inform decision-making? Using behavioral analyses, computational modelling, 2P calcium imaging, and anatomical tracings, I identified the neural circuitry which processes motion, luminance level, and changes in luminance in parallel before linearly adding these features to guide decision-making. My findings support a modular and flexible strategy for integrating sensory information, which in the future could be extended across development, sensory domains, and across other species.

CV
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Positions

Since 2021 PhD Student, Bahl Lab, University of Konstanz
2020–2021 Research assistant, Baier Lab, MPI Neurobiology Munich
2017–2018 Trainee Scientific Software Developer, Scientific Volume Imaging, Hilversum

Education

Since 2021 PhD in Systems Neuroscience, University of Konstanz
2018–2020 Master of Science in Neuroscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
2014–2017 Bachelor in Nanobiology, Technical University Delft & Erasmus Medical Centre Rotterdam

Fellowships

2022–2024 BIF PhD Fellowship, Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds
2019 BESUD stipendium for particularly dedicated international students, DAAD

Awards

2022 Best Poster Award, Neurobiology Doctoral Students Workshop

Publications
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2026

  • Slangewal K., Aimon S., Capelle M. Q., Kämpf F., Naumann H., Slanchev K., Baier H., Bahl A. (2026) Visuomotor decision-making through multifeature convergence in the larval zebrafish hindbrain. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69633-4

2025

  • Klusmann F. S., Kögler A. C., Slangewal K., Önder O., Naumann H., Marx A., Bahl A., Müller P. (2025) An RNA ligase shapes transcriptional profiles, neural function, and behaviour in the developing larval zebrafish. https://doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.01.691575
  • Slangewal K., Aimon S., Capelle M. Q., Kämpf F., Naumann H., Baier H., Slanchev K., Bahl A. (2025) Parallel and convergent pathways for multifeature visual processing in larval zebrafish sensorimotor decision-making. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.12.669772
  • Capelle M. Q., Slangewal K., Eleftheriadis P. E., Bahl A. (2025) Behavioral algorithms of ontogenetic switching in larval and juvenile zebrafish phototaxis. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.13.659371
  • Reynolds P., Marchi D., Ling Y. T., Slangewal K., Capelle M., Chalakova Z., Bahl A., Hindges R. (2025) Early visual experience elicits cellular and functional plasticity in the retina and alters behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.04.29.651180

2022

  • Kappel J. M., Förster D., Slangewal K., Shainer I., Svara F., Donovan J. C., Sherman S., Januszewski M., Baier H., Larsch J. (2022) Visual recognition of social signals by a tectothalamic neural circuit. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04925-5

2021

  • Kappel J. M., Slangewal K., Förster D., Shainer I., Svara F., Januszewski M., Sherman S., Baier H., Larsch J. (2021) Visual recognition of social signals by a tecto-thalamic neural circuit. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.17.456614