astronomy

Ole Paulsen

Ole Paulsen is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ole Paulsen rather than just read about it. In short: Ole Paulsen is the current Chair of Physiology (1883) in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. Paulsen holds a medical degree and a doctorate from the University of Oslo.

Key takeaways

Ole Paulsen belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ole Paulsen to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ole Paulsen from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ole Paulsen is the current Chair of Physiology (1883) in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. Paulsen holds a medical degree and a doctorate from the University of Oslo. He was appointed Departmental Lecturer in the Department of Pharmacology, Oxford, in 1994. He was appointed University Lecturer in the University Laboratory of Physiology in 2000, along with a Fellowship at Keble College. He was also head of the Neuronal Oscillations Group. In January 2010 he was elected to the Chair of Physiology (1883) in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. As of 2026, he was a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. He is a fellow and past president of The Physiological Society.

Selected publications Oye, I; Paulsen, O; Maurset, A (March 1992). "Effects of ketamine on sensory perception: evidence for a role of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors". The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 260 (3): 1209–1213. doi:10.1016/S0022-3565(25)11430-4. Cobb, S. R.; Buhl, E. H.; Halasy, K.; Paulsen, O.; Somogyi, P. (November 1995). "Synchronization of neuronal activity in hippocampus by individual GABAergic interneurons". Nature. 378 (6552): 75–78. doi:10.1038/378075a0. Sprengel, Rolf; Suchanek, Bettina; Amico, Carla; Brusa, Rossella; Burnashev, Nail; Rozov, Andrei; Hvalby, Øivind; Jensen, Vidar; Paulsen, Ole; Andersen, Per; Kim, Jeansok J; Thompson, Richard F; Sun, William; Webster, Lorna C; Grant, Seth G.N; Eilers, Jens; Konnerth, Arthur; Li, Jianying; McNamara, James O; Seeburg, Peter H (January 1998). "Importance of the Intracellular Domain of NR2 Subunits for NMDA Receptor Function In Vivo". Cell. 92 (2): 279–289. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80921-6. Fisahn, André; Pike, Fenella G.; Buhl, Eberhard H.; Paulsen, Ole (July 1998). "Cholinergic induction of network oscillations at 40 Hz in the hippocampus in vitro". Nature. 394 (6689): 186–189. doi:10.1038/28179. Paulsen, Ole; Moser, Edvard (1 July 1998). "A model of hippocampal memory encoding and retrieval: GABAergic control of synaptic plasticity". Trends in Neurosciences. 21 (7): 273–278. doi:10.1016/S0166-2236(97)01205-8. ISSN 0166-2236. Paulsen, O; Sejnowski, T (1 April 2000). "Natural patterns of activity and long-term synaptic plasticity". Current Opinion in Neurobiology. 10 (2): 172–180. doi:10.1016/S0959-4388(00)00076-3. Mann, Edward O.; Paulsen, Ole (July 2007). "Role of GABAergic inhibition in hippocampal network oscillations". Trends in Neurosciences. 30 (7): 343–349. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2007.05.003. Giandomenico, Stefano L.; Mierau, Susanna B.; Gibbons, George M.; Wenger, Lea M. D.; Masullo, Laura; Sit, Timothy; Sutcliffe, Magdalena; Boulanger, Jerome; Tripodi, Marco; Derivery, Emmanuel; Paulsen, Ole; Lakatos, András; Lancaster, Madeline A. (April 2019). "Cerebral organoids at the air–liquid interface generate diverse nerve tracts with functional output". Nature Neuroscience. 22 (4): 669–679. doi:10.1038/s41593-019-0350-2. PMC 6436729.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ole Paulsen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ole Paulsen claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ole Paulsen before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ole Paulsen ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ole Paulsen

In research: Ole Paulsen appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ole Paulsen in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ole Paulsen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Academics of the University of Oxford, Fellows of Keble College, Oxford, Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ole Paulsen outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ole Paulsen in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ole Paulsen means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ole Paulsen out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ole Paulsen in simple terms?

Why does Ole Paulsen matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ole Paulsen?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ole Paulsen.