C4 Lab
Memory is crucial for learning from past experiences, decision-making and shaping our identity. It allows us to navigate the world, respond to circumstances, maintain relationships and adapt to changes. It plays a fundamental role in our daily lives and overall cognitive function.
The Vetere Lab, part of the Brain Plasticity Laboratory at ESPCI, focuses on pinpointing the processes by which memories are encoded, integrated and maintained in the brain over a lifetime. Their research focuses on understanding how memories are represented and stored at various levels, from synaptic changes to complex network dynamics. Their ultimate goal is to uncover the neural basis of memory formation. Through their investigations, they aim to understand how everyday experiences shape our identities and contribute to the formation of long lasting memories.
Representation of fluorescent imaging of dendrite spines and neurons with their projections to brain regions.
The Vetere Lab group of 2024.
RESEARCH
Artificial memory
All the memories that we have are coded in our brain, and certain groups of neurons work together in specific patterns to process and store the information. The C4 Team successfully reverse engineered a memory that never happened by stimulating specific neuronal patterns. Using optogenetic stimulation they build artificial olfactory memories that could be associated with particular odors.
Representation of artificial memories studied by optogenetics using a miniscope.
The main goal of this research is to adjust the activity patterns resulting from different external inputs to explore how the brain stores outside information.
Long-lasting memories
Our perception of the world around us is strongly influenced by daily experiences that continuously shape our brain. The Vetere research team aims to understand changes that occur within neuronal networks when new experiences happen, and what is happening when memory is formed. Additionally, the team wants to investigate the mechanisms that drive the adaptability during fresh experiences that make a reorganization of our brain’s circuitry.
Representation of long-lasting memories and their corresponding neuronal networks.