Systems & Integrative Neuroscience Research Group
Our group aims to better understand the processes of learning and memory.
Our work is aimed at finding and discovering previously unknown subcortical brain regions or unknown cell populations that influence these processes. We are trying to understand the role of these connections in behaviour, to decipher which neurotransmitters and receptors shape the communication between cells.
Encoding, recalling and, when necessary, effectively forgetting memories, and especially negative memories, is essential for survival. Malfunctioning of these memory processes can lead to mental problems, cognitive deficits or dementia. Our group's work is primarily focused on finding and discovering previously unknown subcortical brain areas or unknown cell populations that influence these processes. Our goal is to understand the role of these pathways in behavior and to decipher which neurotransmitters and receptors shape the communication between cells.
It has long been known that to record our memories, information packets from our sensory organs are first processed in the brain and then, after processing, transmitted to several cortical areas that organise and store our memories in memory centres. The sophisticated cognitive functioning of the human brain is based on the complex interconnections between cells in the central nervous system. For a long time, it was thought that the subcortical areas of the brain were only responsible for slow modulatory and other autonomic functions. However, our recent discoveries suggest that key interconnected cell populations in the brainstem and basal forebrain play a previously unrecognised, yet immediate and crucial role in these higher-order learning and memory processes.
Our studies are carried out using selective viral pathway detection techniques, opto- and chemogenetic behavioural assays, in vivo electrophysiological methods, in vivo calcium-imaging miniscope technology, behavioural assays, immunohistochemical methods and high-resolution light and electron microscopy. We focus on the subcortical structures that regulate higher-order functions in the cortical, hippocampal and forebrain areas and on the processing of negative experiences in both healthy and pathological brain states.