Dr. rer. nat. Guanxiao Qi

Dr. Guanxiao Qi earned his BSc and MSc in physics from Southeast University, China, under Prof. Hongbin Huang's supervision. In 2011, he was awarded a Dr. rer. nat. in biology (summa cum laude) from RWTH Aachen University, supervised by Prof. Dr. Dirk Feldmeyer. Since 2014, he has served as a permanent research associate (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, unbefristet) at Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Qi, G. X., Radnikow, G. & Feldmeyer, D. Electrophysiological and morphological characterization of neuronal microcircuits in acute brain slices using paired patch-clamp recordings. J Vis Exp 95 (95), e52358, doi:10.3791/52358, (2015).

Qi, G. X. & Feldmeyer, D. Dendritic Target Region-Specific Formation of Synapses Between Excitatory Layer 4 Neurons and Layer 6 Pyramidal Cells. Cereb Cortex 26 (4), 1569-1579, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu334, (2016).

Qi, G. X., van Aerde, K., Abel, T. & Feldmeyer, D. Adenosine Differentially Modulates Synaptic Transmission of Excitatory and Inhibitory Microcircuits in Layer 4 of Rat Barrel Cortex. Cereb Cortex 27 (9), 4411-4422, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhw243, (2017).

Emmenegger, V.^*, Qi, G. X.^*, Wang, H. & Feldmeyer, D. Morphological and Functional Characterization of Non-fast-Spiking GABAergic Interneurons in Layer 4 Microcircuitry of Rat Barrel Cortex. Cereb Cortex 28 (4), 1439-1457, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhx352, (2018).

Feldmeyer, D.^*, Qi, G. X.^*, Emmenegger, V.^* & Staiger, J. F.^* Inhibitory interneurons and their circuit motifs in the many layers of the barrel cortex. Neuroscience 368, 132-151, doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.05.027, (2018) (Review).

Qi, G. X., Yang, D. Q., Ding C. & Feldmeyer D. Unveiling the Synaptic Function and Structure: Using Paired Recordings From Synaptically Coupled Neurons. Front Synaptic Neurosci 12, p. 5, doi:10.3389/fnsyn.2020.00005, (2020) (Review).

Yang, D. Q. ^*, Qi, G. X. ^*, Ding, C. & Feldmeyer, D. Layer 6A Pyramidal Cell Subtypes Form Synaptic Microcircuits with Distinct Functional and Structural Properties. Cereb Cortex 32 (10), 2095-2111, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhab340, (2022).

Qi, G. X. & Feldmeyer, D. Cell-Type Specific Neuromodulation of Excitatory and Inhibitory Neurons via Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Layer 4 of Rat Barrel Cortex. Front Neural Circuits 16, p. 843025, doi:10.3389/fncir.2022.843025, (2022).

Yang, D. Q., Qi, G. X., Ort, J., Witzig, V., Bak, A., Delev, D., Koch, H. & Feldmeyer, D. Modulation of large rhythmic depolarization in human large basket cells by norepinephrine and acetylcholine. Commun Biol 7 (1), 885, 10.1038/s42003-024-06546-2, (2024).

Jiang, H. J., Qi, G. X., Duarte, R., Feldmeyer, D. & van Albada, S. A layered microcircuit model of somatosensory cortex with three interneuron types and cell-type-specific short-term plasticity. Cereb Cortex 34, bhae378, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhae378, (2024).

Qi, G. X. ^*, Yang, D. Q. ^*, Messore, F., Bast, A., Yanez, F., Oberlander, M. & Feldmeyer, D. FOXP2-immunoreactive corticothalamic neurons in neocortical layers 6a and 6b are tightly regulated by neuromodulatory systems. iScience 28 (1), 111646, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.111646, (2024).

Yang, D. Q. ^*, Qi, G. X. ^*, Delev, D., Maskos, U. & Feldmeyer, D. Linking altered neuronal and synaptic properties to nicotinic receptor Alpha5 subunit gene dysfunction: a translational investigation in rat mPFC and human cortical layer 6. Transl Psychiatry 15 (1), 12, 10.1038/s41398-025-03230-9, (2025).

Balduin, C., Qi, G. X., Schoneck, M., Trinkel, V., Schemmert, S., Guzman, G.A., Bungert-Plumke, S., Klussendorf, M., Neumaier, B., Feldmeyer, D., Shah, N.J., Stauber, T., Langen, K.-J., Guzman, R.E., Willuweit, A., Disruption of ClC-3-mediated 2Cl^-/H⁺ exchange leads to behavioural deficits and thalamic atrophy. Sci Rep 15 (1), 33326, 10.1038/s41598-025-19757-2, (2025).

Qi, G. X., Diaz-Castillo, A., Aretzweiler, C., Steinmetz, L., Bungert-Plumke, S., Muller, F., Feldmeyer, D. & Guzman, R. Endosomal 2Cl^-/H⁺ exchangers regulate neuronal excitability by tuning K_v7/KCNQ channel density. Brain 148 (12), 4299, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf243, (2025).

Qi, G. X. ^*, Yang, D. Q. ^*, Bak, A. ^*, Hucko, W., Delev, D., Hamou, H., Feldmeyer, D. & Koch, H. Transport-Related Effects on Intrinsic and Synaptic Properties of Human Cortical Neurons: A Comparative Study. J Physiol 604 (5), 2060,  https://doi.org/10.1113/JP288111, (2026) (Cover Image).

Rama, R., Qi, G. X., Radnikow, G., Yang, D. Q. & Feldmeyer, D. Serotonin engages divergent 5-HT receptor pathways for cell type-resolved modulation of prefrontal layer 5 microcircuits. Br J Pharmacol 183, 5832, https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.70573 (2026).

Yanez, F., Messore, F., Qi, G. X., Dehghani, N., Meyer, H. S., Feldmeyer, D., Sakmann, B. & Oberlaender, M. Morphoelectric properties of inhibitory neurons shift gradually and regardless of cell type along the depth of the cerebral cortex. BioRxiv, https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.05.709819v1 (2026).

^* Equal contribution