Members

Alessio Attardo, Ph.D. - Group Leader (CV)

I am a neurobiologist fascinated by how cells store and compute information. I am interested in how networks of neurons in the brain acquire and recall memories. After completing my undergraduate studies in biology I moved to the Max Planck Institute of Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden (Germany) for my Ph.D. There I described the lineage of progenitors that constitute the major source of neurons in the mammalian neocortex. As a postdoc at Stanford University I developed a novel chronic deep-brain optical imaging technique to study long-term plasticity of pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus of live mice. Ihave investigated structural plasticity in hippocampal neurons as the cellular foundation of memory. I have also investigated how representations of experience in the hippocampus evolve during weeks and how the ability of such representations to discriminate different experiences declines with aging.

Hadi Mirzapourdelavar, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral fellow

I hold a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, with a specialization in the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying brain aging. Currently, I’m advancing my expertise as a postdoctoral researcher, focusing on developing innovative activity-dependent synaptic tagging technology suitable for in vivo deep brain imaging. My research in The A-Lab is centered on understanding structural plasticity—the brain's remarkable ability to reshape neural connections in response to neuronal activity. By studying how synapses and dendritic structures adapt following neuronal activation, I seek to uncover fundamental principles of brain function and plasticity.

Rajdeep Bhowmik Ph.D. - Postdoctoral fellow

I received my PhD from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India, and joined the A-Lab as a postdoctoral researcher. My PhD work revolved around investigating neural mechanisms underlying olfactory working memory. In The A-lab, I will. focus on how learning brings about plastic changes in the hippocampus and how it can be dissected to better understand emergent network phenomena underlying learning and memory. Apart from research, I like to read, play tennis and enjoy music.

Ananya Sachdev - Ph.D. Student

A brain cell is similar to other cells in its genetic and basic cellular composition. However, the brain is the only organ which is necessary to consciousness, cognition, and other amazingly complex mental abilities. It turns out that it takes a lot more than electrical excitability and large numbers of cells. I want to understand how the activity, as well as the structural features of neurons, give rise to complex brain functions like memory. Having previously worked with EEG data and in vivo tetrode drive recordings, I am now excited to study the relationship between hippocampal activity and structural changes at the cellular level during learning using 2-photon microscopy in my PhD project in The A-lab. This will allow me to understand the link between activity, connectivity, and spatial learning behaviour in the hippocampus.

Georgii Volkov - Ph.D. Student

Since my time as a Bachelor I was interested in fundamental questions of physiology and neuroscience in particular. This brought me first to Germany for my Master's in neuroscience and then to A-lab. What could be more fundamental and fascinating than long-lasting chase for the understanding biological basis of memory? In A-lab I will investigate the mechanisms of representational drift in hippocampus, trying to answer the question how spatial memories are stored, processed and being changed in the brain. To do so, I will employ cutting-edge miniature single-photon microscopes (miniscopes) in behaving mice to investigate how the activity of CA3 neurons influence CA1 representational drift. Understanding the mechanisms of the relationship between these two areas and of representational drift will help us to make another big step in final theory of learning an memory function.

Stefanos Somatakis - Ph.D. Student

My passion about understanding how memories are created and stored in the brain brought me back to The A-Lab, after having conducted my master’s thesis here. As a doctoral candidate, I am currently investigating how representations of spatial memories change in the hippocampus of mice over time. Using single-photon wide-field head-mounted miniaturized microscopes (miniscopes), I will be imaging Ca2+ traces in freely moving mice, in order to shed light on the role of activity of dorsal CA3 engram neurons on dorsal CA1 representational drift. I believe that the elucidation of mechanisms behind the formation and storage of memories can be helpful in the battle against neurodegenerative diseases.

Sai Nithin Nadikattu Kumar Reddy - Student assistant

I am a Master student with an engineering background. My goal is to setup a pipeline for Deep Lab Cut and Caiman for The A-lab, so as to analyse and draw a correlation between mouse movement and calcium activity in its brain.

Imad Noor Uddin - Student assistant

I am a M.Sc. student in Integrative Neuroscience in Otto Von Guericke University, from Bangladesh. My background in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. My current work involves activity dependent synaptic tagging and how dendritic spines changes following neuronal activity. I work with confocal microscopy followed by 3D data analysis. I want to learn more about different neuroscience techniques and work collaboratively with the other members of The A-Lab.