Pedro M Ogallar, PhD
Post-doctoral Scholar
Biography
Dr. Ogallar holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Jaen, graduating cum laude, and earned international mention through a research stint at Boston College. His doctoral research, funded by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, focused on exploring the conditions and mechanisms underlying context-dependent information encoding within the realm of learning.
During his transition to neuroscience through a postdoctoral position, supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Universities, he spent a year at TCU in Texas, delving into the neurobiological foundations of frustration with a specific emphasis on the role of the basal ganglia in the behavioral adjustment to reward loss.
Passionate about methodological and technical foundations in neuroscience, Dr. Ogallar has a keen interest in utilizing animal models to study behavioral aspects. Presently, he contributes to cutting-edge research that explores the intricate interplay of circuits, representations, and neural dynamics, with a specific focus on their correlation with processes related to navigation and the formation of episodic memories.
Selected Publications:
- Ogallar, P.M., Rosas, J.M., & Callejas-Aguilera, J. E. (2023). Increasing Previous but not Concurrent Extinction Attenuates the “Extinction Makes Acquisition Context Specific” Effect in Human Predictive Learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition doi: 10.1037/xan0000372
- Hagen, C., Ogallar, P.M., & Papini, M. R. (2023). Open field activity correlates with, but is not affected by, the rate of recovery from reward downshift. Behavioural Processes 213, 104966. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104966
- Alcalá, J.A., Ogallar, P.M., Prados, J., & Urcelay, G.P. (2023). Further evidence for the role of temporal contiguity as a determinant of overshadowing. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
- Hagen, C., Ogallar, P.M., Guarino, S., & Papini, M. R. (2023). Behavioral and neural correlates of licking for 66% alcohol in Wistar rats: Caloric balance or sensation/novelty seeking?. Physiology & Behavior 263, 114114.
- Ogallar, P. M., Callejas-Aguilera, J. E., Rosas, J. M., & Lamoureux, J. A. (2021). Concurrent Evidence of Extinction Making Acquisition Context Specific and ABA and ABC Renewal Effects in Human Predictive Learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, 47, 137–149.
Research Areas:
- Learning and Memory - Spatial Memory
- Connectome and Brain Pathways
- Animal Research in Neuroscience
