Vetere Lab
Memories are crucial in shaping an individual's identity, and the brain undergoes constant changes to accommodate new information:
- How are memories integrated in the neural network?
- How are they kept for a lifetime in our brain?
Vetere Lab research delves into the complex processes that enable the brain to encode and store memories over a lifetime. The team studies how memories are represented and integrated into the neural network, investigating changes at both the synaptic and larger network levels. Ultimately, the laboratory aims to uncover the neural basis of memory formation and provide insights into how everyday experiences are transformed into long-lasting memories.
The Vetere Lab is part of the Brain Plasticity Laboratory at ESPCI.
Research
ARTIFICIAL MEMORIES
LONG-LASTING MEMORIES
Memories are coded in the brain by patterns of neuronal connections. In a paper published by the group in 2019, they were able to create a memory by stimulating specific neurones without actually having this memory happen. Using optogenetic stimulation of specific neuronal patterns, they created an artificial olfactory memory. They stimulated an olfactory glomerulus with either rewarding or aversive artificial brain stimulation and created an artificial either positive or negative memory of the odor.
Any new experience or memory formation generates a change in our brain circuitry, our brain is reshaped. The lab is interested in studying how plasticity occurs when there is a new experience and the changes that occur in the brain.