Webinar: Illuminating the neural circuits of learned and innate behavior guided by emotion and memory Presenters: Dr. Oliver Barnstedt and Dr. Anne Petzold (European Neuroscience Institute, Germany) Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025 Time: 14:00 CET Session 1: Fear Not – How Hypothalamic Circuits Overcome Anxiety Speaker: Dr. Anne Petzold Group Leader, European Neuroscience Institute Content Outline: Dissect hypothalamic–prefrontal circuits using optogenetics and calcium imaging in freely moving mice to illuminate how leptin-sensitive neurons in the lateral hypothalamus shape adaptive feeding under anxiety. Uncover how prefrontal inputs inhibit leptin-sensitive neurons and drive maladaptive states in an anorexic model, revealing these neurons as key regulators of anxiety and eating disorders. Illustrate the use of state-of-the-art technical approaches to illuminate circuit function: somatic stimulation of defined neuronal populations or axonal stimulation in freely moving mice, optogenetic assays, cell calcium imaging, and axonal fiber photometry. About Dr. Anne Petzold: Neuroscientist based at