Dr. Isabel Muzzio's long-term goal as a scholar is to advance the biological understanding of memory. The areas that her lab has been focusing on include: 1) Effects of fear on encoding and stability of spatial representations in the dorsal and ventral hippocampus. 2) Strategies, representations, and circuits underlying spatial reorientation -the ability to regain one’s bearings after becoming lost. 3) Effects of sleep on memory and hippocampal representations. These research areas have strong impact on brain health because several neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by memory loss and/or disorientation. The Muzzio lab has addressed these topics recording single-units and calcium signals in freely moving mice in combination with genetic, optogenetic, chemogenetic, behavioral, and computational tools.

Publications:

• Pubmed