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Federico Stella

Donders Institute of Radboud University in Nijmegen, NL
Apply by Jan 14, 2025

Application deadline

Jan 14, 2025

Job

Job location

Federico Stella

Geocoding

Donders Institute of Radboud University in Nijmegen, NL

Geocoding in progress.

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Quick Information

Application Deadline

Jan 14, 2025

Start Date

Flexible

Education Required

See description

Experience Level

Not specified

Job

Job location

Federico Stella

Geocoding

Donders Institute of Radboud University in Nijmegen, NL

Geocoding in progress.

Source: legacy

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Job Description

The project will focus on the computational investigation of the role of neural reactivations in memory. Since their discovery neural reactivations happening during sleep have emerged as an exceptional tool to investigate the process of memory formation in the brain. This phenomenon has been mostly associated with the hippocampus, an area known for its role in the processing of new memories and their initial storage. Continuous advancements in data acquisition techniques are giving us an unprecedented access to the activity of large-scale networks during sleep, in the hippocampus and in other cortical regions. At the same time, our theoretical understanding of the computations underlying neural reactivations and more in general memory representations, has only began to take shape. Combining mathematical modeling of neural networks and analysis of existing dataset, we will address some key aspects of this phenomenon such as: 1) The role of different sleep phases in regulating the reactivation process and in modulating the evolution of a memory trace. 2) The relationship of hippocampal reactivations to the process of (semantic) learning and knowledge generalization. 3) The relevance of reactivation statistical properties for learning in cortico-hippocampal networks.

Requirements

  • The ideal candidate has a strong interest in neuroscience
  • a background in theoretical physics
  • math or similar quantitative disciplines (familiarity with statistical mechanics and/or dynamical systems is very welcomed)
  • and some degree of computational and programming skills (ideally
  • knowledge of Matlab and/or Python) The ideal candidate must also be able to carry out their work in an independent
  • and highly collaborative manner.

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