Our lab studies the neural mechanisms of memory in the everyday sense of
the word: the ability to learn new facts and remember recent events. Although for many years scientists believed that only one form of
learning existed in the brain, we now know that different brain networks
are crucial for different types of learning. For example, the
hippocampus is needed to learn and remember new facts and recent events,
the amygdala is crucial for earning emotional associations, and the
neostriatum is required for certain forms of skill learning.
My research focuses on how the hippocampus, refrontal cortex, and other
brain areas contribute to memory in experimental animals, mostly rats,
and how mechanisms of neuronal plasticity within these structures
contribute to memory functions. Experiments in my lab are guided by
cognitive, computational, physiological, and pharmacological hypotheses.
|Kennedy, P.J. & Shapiro, M.L. (2009). Contextual memory retrieval: motivational states activate distinct hippocampal representations. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA published online before print June 15, 2009, doi:10.1073/pnas.0903259106.|
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