Team

I completed my undergraduate training at Northeastern University in Behavioral Neuroscience and Computer Science. During that time, I worked in the labs of Dr. Sandeep Robert Datta, Dr. Leon Reijmers, and Dr. Steve Ramirez, where I studied olfactory processing, fear extinction learning, and fear relapse respectively, and gained interest in understanding the dynamic nature of memory. I then completed my PhD in the lab of Dr. Denise Cai, studying how past memories are updated as animals learn new information. I found that when mice have a highly aversive experience, they update neutral memories from days prior to become linked with the aversive memory. We termed this phenomenon retrospective memory-linking. I found that retrospective memory-linking occurs during restful periods shortly after aversive learning, through hippocampal ensemble reactivation which links the neuronal ensembles representing the aversive and neutral memories. I primarily use optical- and electro-physiology approaches to investigate how neuronal population dynamics support learning and memory processes. I also employ manipulation approaches such as chemogenetics and optogenetics to test how perturbation of neuronal activity in specific cell populations and at specific times before/after an experience affects memory. I am particularly interested in the roles that sleep and wake states play to support distinct learning and memory processes. Outside of the lab, I enjoy writing stories with my camera, curating playlists on my Spotify, spending half my weekends baking desserts, and spending the other half eating the desserts. joe.zaki@icahn.mssm.edu