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Prof. Dr. Benjamin Lindner

Portrait of Benjamin Lindner

Theory of Complex Systems and Neurophysics Group

The Theory of Complex Systems and Neurophysics Group focuses on novel analytical and numerical approaches for stochastic systems but also cultivates experimental collaborations to test predictions and to seek new challenges. Theoretical efforts in Neurophysics are devoted to three distinct problems: 

(i) the spontaneous firing statistics of stochastic neurons; 

(ii) the principles of signal transmission and detection in neural systems; 

(iii) the dynamics of populations and recurrent networks of spiking neurons.

Beyond those topics, they have also made key contributions to models of social dynamics, active particle models, pursuit problems, models of oto-acoustic emissions in the inner ear, the stochastic dynamics of organelles in cells, calcium spiking in cells, transport- and diffusion problems, and the notion of phase and amplitude for stochastic oscillators.

  • Langevin equations
  • Fokker-Planck equations
  • Master equations
  • Markovian embedding
  • First-passage-time approaches
  • Linear-response theory
  • Fluctuation-dissipation relations

Current position

2011 - present Full Professor of Theory of Complex Systems and Neurophysics at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)

Positions held 

2007 - 2011 Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (DE)
2005 - 2007 Distinguished Postdoctoral Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (DE)
2003 - 2005 Postdoctoral Researcher a University of Ottawa (CA)

Academic Education

1998 - 2002 Doctoral Degree in Theoretical Physics at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
1990 - 1996 Diploma in Physics at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)

Honors/Awards/Fellowships

2009 Outstanding Referee of the American Physical Society
2002 Carl-Ramsauer Award of the Berlin Physical Society

DFG-funded projects

2020 - present SPP 2205 - 'Evolutionary Optimisation of Neuronal Processing'
2018 - present SFB 1315 - 'Mechanisms and disturbances in memory consolidation: From synapses to systems'
2010 - 2020 GRK 1740 - 'Dynamical Phenomena in Complex Networks: Fundamentals and Applications'
2010 - 2019 GRK 1589 - 'Sensory Computation in Neural Systems'

Selected activities

2018 - present Editor-in-Chief Biological Cybernetics
2018 - present Editorial Board of Physical Review X
2015-2018 Editorial board member of Fluctuation and Noise Letters
2014 - present Head of the examination board, Master program Comp. Neuroscience, BCCN Berlin
2021 - 2022  Deputy director of the Institute of Physics HU

Selected publications

  • Ramlow L, Falcke M, Lindner B. An integrate-and-fire approach to Ca2+ signaling. Part II: Cumulative refractoriness. Biophys J. 2023 Dec 19;122(24):4710-4729. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2023.11.015.
  • Pérez-Cervera A, Gutkin B, Thomas PJ, Lindner B. A universal description of stochastic oscillators. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jul 18;120(29):e2303222120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2303222120.
  • Lindner B. Fluctuation-Dissipation Relations for Spiking Neurons. Phys Rev Lett. 2022 Nov 4;129(19):198101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.198101.
  • Ramlow L, Lindner B. Interspike interval correlations in neuron models with adaptation and correlated noise. PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 Aug 27;17(8):e1009261. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009261.
  • Bernardi D, Doron G, Brecht M, Lindner B. A network model of the barrel cortex combined with a differentiator detector reproduces features of the behavioral response to single-neuron stimulation. PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 Feb 8;17(2):e1007831. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007831.
  • Vellmer S, Lindner B. Theory of spike-train power spectra for multidimensional integrate-and-fire neurons. Phys Rev Res. 2019 Sep 23;1(2):023024. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.1.023024.
  • van Meegen A, Lindner B. Self-Consistent Correlations of Randomly Coupled Rotators in the Asynchronous State. Phys Rev Lett. 2018 Dec 21;121(25):258302. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.258302.
  • Voronenko SO, Lindner B. Weakly nonlinear response of noisy neurons. New J Phys. 2017 Mar 28;19:033038. doi: 10.1088/1367-2630/aa5b81.
  • Doose J, Doron G, Brecht M, Lindner B. Noisy Juxtacellular Stimulation In Vivo Leads to Reliable Spiking and Reveals High-Frequency Coding in Single Neurons. J Neurosci. 2016 Oct 26;36(43):11120-11132. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0787-16.2016.
  • Schwalger T, Droste F, Lindner B. Statistical structure of neural spiking under non-Poissonian or other non-white stimulation. J Comput Neurosci. 2015 Aug;39(1):29-51. doi: 10.1007/s10827-015-0560-x.