Research

Fascinating questions:

• Where and how does the brain store information?
• How does memory emerge from the structure and operation of distributed neural networks?
• What substrate preserves memory for a lifetime?
• How does an organism formulate goals and what process enables it to pursue them?

How do we study these questions?
The objective of our research is to discover the structure and function of the neural networks which are responsible for simple forms of associative learning. For this purpose, we study one of the best understood forms of associative learning - the classical conditioning of defensive reflexes.  First, we identify the neural circuits responsible for learning, and then we study how is external information transformed  into anticipatory behaviors.  Presently, we use two behavioral paradigms: classical conditioning of the eyeblink reflex (rabbit, human) and the adaptation to alterations of visual feedback (human).

Which methods do we use?

• Computerized analysis of behavior
• Neuropharmacology (microinjections of drugs to manipulate activity in discrete parts of the neural networks controlling learning)
• Electrophysiology (electromyography, simultaneous recording from a large number of individual neurons in animals learning or executing new behavior).
• Neuroanatomy (tracing connections between nodes of the networks which control learning).