Molecular and cellular physiology of the nervous system; cellular communication and plasticity in the cerebral circuits; physiology and biophysics of sensory, motor and cognitive functions; computational modelling of neurons, circuits and brains; cellular communication in the cardiovascular system; physiology of the skeletal and cardiac muscles.

Research Topics

Computational modeling of brain neurons and circuits: The computational basis of learning in the cerebellar granular layer; Closed-loop controllers for motor learning and coordination; Computational models of cerebellar dysfunctions in pathology (ataxia, dystonia, paroxysmal dyskinesia); Reconstruction and simulation of local microcircuit variants in a full-scale model reconstructions of the mouse cerebellum; The impact of spikes on brain dynamics: cerebellar networks in a hybrid virtual brain models; Reconstruction and simulation of neurons and circuits of the human cerebellum
Research group: Egidio D’Angelo, Claudia Casellato, Stefano Masoli

Early and progressive impairment analysis of the corticostriatal synapses in a mouse model of Huntington’s Disease
Research group: Gerardo Biella

Functional evaluation of human stem cell-derived striatal medium spiny and cortical neurons in control and in Huntington’s disease
Research group: Gerardo Biella

Molecular mechanisms of sensory transduction in auditory and vestibular hair cells
Research group: Sergio Masetto. Giancarlo Russo

MRI signal analysis and virtual brain modeling: fMRI analysis of motor and cognitive tasks using dynamic causal modeling; Digital Brain Twins of patients with mild-cognitive impairment to predict evolution toward dementia; Digital Brain Twins of ataxic patients to predict and test neurostimulation patterns; Development of mean field models of the cerebellar network tuned for specific pathological states
Research group: Egidio D’Angelo, Claudia Gandini, Fulvia Palesi

Neurotransmitters-induced Ca2+ signalling and nitric oxide relase in brain microvascular endothelium: New targets for neurodegenerative disorders?
Research group: Francesco Moccia

Synaptic plasticity: from cellular mechanism to microcircuit function and disease: : Dendritic drive of spike-timing dependent plasticity in cerebellar Golgi cells; Spread of plasticity through the cerebellar granular and molecular layer using advanced imaging and MEA techniques in vitro; Cerebellar neuron activity during motor learning and control using optogenetic and microendoscopic calcium imaging in vivo
Research group: Egidio D’Angelo, Francesca Prestori, Lisa Mapelli