Anthony Holtmaat is a full professor in the Department of Basic Neurosciences, where he holds the IRP Chair Alain Rossier, and co-directs the Lemanic Neuroscience Doctoral School. He is a molecular and cellular neuroscientist, specialising in neuronal synaptic circuits. His lab studies the mechanisms by which sensory input and learning change synapses in cortical circuits. His work has provided conceptual frameworks for the underpinnings of cortical plasticity, which may provide handles for modulating cortical function in various disorders.

Mental health hinges on a complex interplay of brain processes. Our understanding of the mechanisms underlying aberrations therein remains incomplete. Anthony Holtmaat imputes this partly to the distributed nature of most psychiatric disorders. He believes that to further our understanding, it is crucial to focus on a specific component of a psychiatric condition (e.g. false perception in schizophrenia, or hypersensitivity in autism), and view it as part of a continuum of normal brain functions. By dissecting the circuit mechanisms of these key behavioural traits, he aims at identifying possible loci of synaptic dysfunction.