Biography

Dr. Norbert Hájos is a Linda & Jack Gill Chair for Neuroscience and a Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington. An internationally recognized expert in neural circuit physiology, he joined IU in 2021.  

Dr. Hájos’ research examines how cortical microcircuits are organized and how interactions between excitatory neurons and inhibitory interneurons shape cognition, emotion, and behavior. Using electrophysiology, optogenetics, viral tracing, and behavioral tests, his laboratory studies network function in regions such as the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, with the goal of understanding how circuit dysfunction contributes to neuropsychiatric disease.

He has published extensively in leading neuroscience journals and is widely recognized for advancing understanding of inhibitory circuitry and network dynamics in the mammalian brain.

Publications

  • Reéb Z, Magyar D, Weisz F, Fekete Z, Müller K, Vikór A, Péterfi Z, Andrási T, Veres JM, Hájos N. (2025) "Morphological and electrophysiological diversity and connectivity of principal neurons in the lateral and basal nuclei of the mouse amygdala." Scientific Reports.15 (1), 33675
  • Fekete Z, Weisz F, Karlócai MR, Veres JM, Andrási T, Hájos N. (2025) "Synaptic communication within the microcircuits of pyramidal neurons and basket cells in the mouse prefrontal cortex." The Journal of Physiology. 603 (20), 6423-6444
  • Barabás B, Reéb Z, Papp OI, Hájos N. (2024) "Functionally linked amygdala and prefrontal cortical regions are innervated by both single and double projecting cholinergic neurons." Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. 18, 1426153
  • Veres JM, Fekete Z, Müller K, Andrasi T, Rovira-Esteban L, Barabas B, Papp OI, Hajos N. (2023) "Fear learning and aversive stimuli differentially change excitatory synaptic transmission in perisomatic inhibitory cells of the basal amygdala." Front Cell Neurosci. 17:1120338.
  • Nagy-Pál P, Veres JM, Fekete Z, Karlócai MR, Weisz F, Barabás B, Reéb Z, Hájos N. (2023) "Structural Organization of Perisomatic Inhibition in the Mouse Medial Prefrontal Cortex." Journal of Neuroscience. 43 (42), 6972-6987
  • Veres JM, Andrasi T, Nagy-Pal P, Hajos N. (2023) "CaMKIIα Promoter-Controlled Circuit Manipulations Target Both Pyramidal Cells and Inhibitory Interneurons in Cortical Networks." eNeuro. 10(4):ENEURO.0070-23.2023.
  • Ecker A, Bagi B, Vértes E, Steinbach-Németh O, Karlócai MR, Papp OI, Miklós I, Hájos N, Freund TF, Gulyás AI, Káli S. (2022) "Hippocampal sharp wave-ripples and the associated sequence replay emerge from structured synaptic interactions in a network model of area CA3." Elife. 11:e71850. 
  • Hájos N (2021) "Interneuron Types and Their Circuits in the Basolateral Amygdala." Frontiers in Neural Circuits. 15, 687257
  • Vereczki VK, Müller K, Krizsán É, Máté Z, Fekete Z, Rovira-Esteban L, Veres JM, Erdélyi F, Hájos N. (2021) "Total Number and Ratio of GABAergic Neuron Types in the Mouse Lateral and Basal Amygdala." Journal of Neuroscience. 41 (21), 4575-4595
  • Rovira-Esteban L, Hájos N, Nagy GA, Crespo C, Nacher J, Varea E, Blasco-Ibáñez JM. (2020) "Semilunar Granule Cells Are the Primary Source of the Perisomatic Excitatory Innervation onto Parvalbumin-Expressing Interneurons in the Dentate Gyrus." eNeuro. 7(4):ENEURO.0323-19.2020.
  • Rovira-Esteban L, Gunduz-Cinar O, Bukalo O, Limoges A, Brockway E, Müller K, Fenno L, Kim YS, Ramakrishnan C, Andrási T, Deisseroth K, Holmes A, Hájos N. (2019) "Excitation of Diverse Classes of Cholecystokinin Interneurons in the Basal Amygdala Facilitates Fear Extinction." eNeuro. 6(6):ENEURO.0220-19.2019. 
  • Rhomberg T, Rovira-Esteban L, Vikór A, Paradiso E, Kremser C, Nagy-Pál P, Papp OI, Tasan R, Erdélyi F, Szabó G, Ferraguti F, Hájos N. (2018) "Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide-Immunoreactive Interneurons within Circuits of the Mouse Basolateral Amygdala." Journal of Neuroscience. 38 (31), 6983-7003
  • Andrási T, Veres JM, Rovira-Esteban L, Kozma R, Vikór A, Gregori E, Hájos N. (2017) "Differential excitatory control of 2 parallel basket cell networks in amygdala microcircuits." PLoS Biol. 15(5):e2001421.
  • Rovira-Esteban L, Péterfi Z, Vikór A, Máté Z, Szabó G, Hájos N. (2017) "Morphological and physiological properties of CCK/CB1R-expressing interneurons in the basal amygdala." Brain Structure and Function. 222 (8), 3543-3565
  • Veres JM, Nagy GA, Hájos N. (2017) "Different output properties of perisomatic region-targeting interneurons in the basal amygdala." European Journal of Neuroscience. 45 (4), 548-558
  • Vereczki VK, Veres JM, Müller K, Nagy GA, Rácz B, Barsy B, Hájos N. (2016) "Synaptic Organization of Perisomatic GABAergic Inputs onto the Principal Cells of the Mouse Basolateral Amygdala." Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. 10, 20
  • Lenkey N, Kirizs T, Holderith N, Máté Z, Szabó G, Vizi ES, Hájos N, Nusser Z. (2015) "Tonic endocannabinoid-mediated modulation of GABA release is independent of the CB1 content of axon terminals." Nature Communications. 6, 8226
  • Veres JM, Nagy GA, Vereczki VK, Andrási T, Hájos N. (2014) "Strategically positioned inhibitory synapses of axo-axonic cells potently control principal neuron spiking in the basolateral amygdala." Journal of Neuroscience. 34 (49), 16194-16206
  • Schlingloff D, Káli S, Freund TF, Hájos N, Gulyás AI. (2014) "Mechanisms of sharp wave initiation and ripple generation." Journal of Neuroscience. 34 (34), 11385-11398
  • Szabó GG, Papp OI, Máté Z, Szabó G, Hájos N. (2014) "Anatomically heterogeneous populations of CB1 cannabinoid receptor-expressing interneurons in the CA3 region of the hippocampus show homogeneous input-output characteristics." Hippocampus. 24(12):1506-23. 
  • Szabó GG, Lenkey N, Holderith N, Andrási T, Nusser Z, Hájos N. (2014) "Presynaptic calcium channel inhibition underlies CB₁ cannabinoid receptor-mediated suppression of GABA release." Journal of Neuroscience. 34 (23), 7958-7963
  • Zemankovics R, Veres JM, Oren I, Hájos N. (2013) "Feedforward inhibition underlies the propagation of cholinergically induced gamma oscillations from hippocampal CA3 to CA1." Journal of Neuroscience. 33 (30), 12337-12351
  • Hájos N, Karlócai MR, Németh B, Ulbert I, Monyer H, Szabó G, Erdélyi F, Freund TF, Gulyás AI. (2013) "Input-output features of anatomically identified CA3 neurons during hippocampal sharp wave/ripple oscillation in vitro." Journal of Neuroscience. 33 (28), 11677-11691
  • Papp OI, Karlócai MR, Tóth IE, Freund TF, Hájos N. (2013) "Different input and output properties characterize parvalbumin-positive basket and Axo-axonic cells in the hippocampal CA3 subfield." Hippocampus. 23(10):903-18.
  • Nagy GA, Botond G, Borhegyi Z, Plummer NW, Freund TF, Hájos N. (2013) "DAG-sensitive and Ca(2+) permeable TRPC6 channels are expressed in dentate granule cells and interneurons in the hippocampal formation." Hippocampus. 23(3):221-32.

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