Principal Investigator
Isabel Muzzio, PhD
Title/Position
Ronnie Ketchel Professor
Dr. Isabel Muzzio was born in Argentina and moved to the USA when she started college at the University of Massachusetts. She conducted her PhD at Rutgers University working under the supervision of Dr. Lou Matzel studying circuits of associative learning. She later conducted her postdoc at Columbia University working under the supervision of Dr. Eric Kandel where she investigated molecular and cellular mechanisms of memory encoding and retrieval in the mammalian brain. Since Dr. Muzzio became an independent investigator her research focused on circuits, representations, and neural dynamics associated with navigation and episodic memory. Her lab conducts electrophysiological recordings and calcium imaging in freely moving mice along with chemogenetic, optogenetic, behavioral, and computational tools.
Staff
Marc Eric Normandin, PhD
Title/Position
Post-doctoral Fellow
Dr. Marc Normandin earned his doctorate in Physics in the context of signal analysis and model parameter estimation of gravitational wave signals from ground-based interferometers. He then transitioned to neuroscience where he applies his extensive knowledge of mathematical, data analysis, and computational techniques to neuroscience data acquired from EEG/EMG, tetrodes, and calcium imaging recordings in the context of spatial navigation and episodic memory. He utilizes high performance computing on distributed computer clusters, as well as GPUs.
Celia M. Gagliardi, PhD
Title/Position
Post-doctoral Scholar
Dr. Celia Gagliardi is a post-doctoral scholar that studies the neural mechanisms of navigation in mice.
Pedro M Ogallar, PhD
Title/Position
Post-doctoral Scholar
Dr. Ogallar, with a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, graduated cum laude, gaining valuable experience through impactful research endeavors. His doctoral research, funded by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, delved into context-dependent information encoding. Transitioning to neuroscience through a postdoctoral position in the TCU Psychology Department, he explored the neurobiological foundations of frustration, emphasizing the basal ganglia's role in behavioral adjustment to reward loss. Passionate about neuroscience methodologies, Dr. Ogallar currently contributes to cutting-edge research, focusing on the intricate interplay of circuits, representations, and neural dynamics, particularly in relation to navigation and episodic memory formation.
Students
Rachel Backstrom
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Rachel Backstrom is interested in studying the mechanisms involved in encoding, consolidating, and retrieving fear memories. Specifically, she is studying the involvement of the ventral hippocampus and its projections in representing the valence of a fearful memory. Additionally, she aims to understand how traumatic experiences in adolescence can impact emotional learning in adulthood.
Nicole B. Cook, BS
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Nicole Cook is interested in studying the cellular representations, neural dynamics, and circuits involved in fear memory recall.
Sadie May Wasberg
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Sadie May Wasberg studies representations and circuits associated with retrieval of remote fear memories. In particular, she is interested in elucidating how representations in the amygdala change in response to stimuli of different associative valence and whether these representations are similar during fear generalization.
Lydia Watkins
Title/Position
Undergraduate Student
Lydia Watkins is an undergraduate student from Lawton, IA majoring in neuroscience and minoring in psychology on the pre-med track. She is interested in the neurobiological mechanisms underlying behavior and learning. She is currently studying the auditory cortex for Nicole Cook's project in fear memory recall.
Former Team Members
Matthew R. Lopez, PhD
Title/Position
Phd Graduate
Matthew Lopez studies representations and circuits associated with fear learning and memory.
Lab Support
