About me

I was born in Machali, a city in the Andes mountains in the south of Chile, and completed my undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and my Ph.D. degree in Pharmacology from Wayne State University working with Dr. Rodrigo Andrade. My doctoral work investigated the intracellular mechanisms by which the activation of 5-HT receptors, via the breakdown of PIP2 in the plasma membrane, modulates a Ca+-activated K+ current evoked after train of action potential (slow afterhyperpolarization), thus regulating neuronal excitability in pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal cortex.

I continue my road toward understanding how the brain works and moved back to Chile where I joined the laboratory of Dr. Jose Luis Valdes at the University of Chile (in collaboration with Dr. Pedro Maldonado). In here, I used high-density electrophysiology recordings in freely moving rats to study the role of hippocampal oscillations and antihistaminic in spatial memory consolidation during slow-wave sleep.

As I moved back to the US again, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Michele Basso at UCLA. Here, I used a wide range of electrophysiological, pharmacological, and behavioral assays to investigate how the brain integrates sensory inputs to produce goal-directed movements.