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Research in the Complex Memory Lab

How are experiences represented in the brain and transformed into memory traces? How do these experiences shape our identity? And how is memory compromised by trauma and Alzheimer's disease?

In our group, we are investigating the neural foundations of memory functions and dysfunctions using cognitive neuroscience methods: EEG, fMRI at 3T and 7T, simultaneous EEG/fMRI, intracranial EEG, human single unit recordings. We are particularly interested in the processing of specific experiences by the brain and how the resulting stimulus-specific representations can be decoded using algorithms from artificial intelligence and deep learning. We are investigating a wide range of memory processes (working memory, long-term memory, memory consolidation during resting state and sleep, autobiographical memory, social memory, repression). In addition, we are exploring the link between memory and spatial navigation, and how they are shaped by learning. Our vision is to track the brain mechanisms that support the transformation of perceptual representations into memory traces and their transformation during complex memory functions.


Lupe
Our research interests can be summarized in three main areas: 1. Deep engrams 2. Navigation, grid cells, and Alzheimer's disease 3. Autobiographical memory and distortions.

Our Vision

  • The complexity of human memory should be taken seriously. This requires an interdisciplinary integration of psychology, philosophy, and psychoanalysis, and paradigms that maximize ecological validity.
  • The complexity of the neural mechanisms of memory needs to be taken seriously. We study memory traces from single cells to oscillating assemblies (iEEG) and layers (7T fMRI) to large networks.
  • Memory relies on cognitive representations in the brain. These can be best studied by integrating AI - with a focus on deep neural networks - and neuroscience.
  • Cognitive and clinical neuroscience should be integrated. Psychiatry and clinical psychology provide relevant challenges and point to the complexity of the human mind; cognitive neuroscience provides mechanistic methods.
  • Researchers need a positive and constructive working environment, because only a climate of trust, openness, and mutual support fosters creativity, collaboration, and scientific excellence.
  • We benefit from international collaborations. They provide a broader, less biased picture of research and are personally enriching.
     

Ongoing Grants

Israel ISF-DFG: The Transformation of Autobiographical Memories Through Empathic Interactions

Autobiographical memories (AEs) shape identity and self-image, but when disrupted they can contribute to disorders such as PTSD or depression. At the same time, they play a central role in psychotherapy. It remains unclear whether and how social factors, especially empathy, can change AEs. This project investigates the question in three studies: 1. Dyadic interactions with fNIRS hyperscanning test whether empathic listening affects the content, specificity, and intensity of AEs. 2. fMRI analyses examine how empathy influences neural processes and the distinctiveness of memory traces (hippocampus, amygdala, mPFC). 3. A preclinical PTSD model tests whether empathy reduces intrusive memories after trauma-analogue films. We expect that empathic interactions make AEs more contextualized, coherent, and less distressing, with these effects depending on specific brain regions.

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DFG Sachbeihilfe: The impact of cartographic cues on neural representations of space

The project investigates how cartographic components affect spatial skills and memory on a neuroscientific level. An interdisciplinary research team aims to gain fundamental new insights into how people interpret map information and how the efficiency of maps or map-based interfaces can be optimized based on findings from brain research.

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Research Unit 2812: Constructing Scenarios of the Past

Project 08: Modification of episodic memories due to integration with a self-model
Was an event shameful? How is your memory of the event influenced by this fact? Here we aims to investigate how scenario formation results from an integration between memory and the self-model. We establish and conduct novel experimental paradigms that elucidate the impact of the self-model on episodic memories. Eventually, we aim to develop a novel conceptual and empirical framework on this topic.

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Collaborative Research Centre 1280: Extinction Learning

Project A02: Neural mechanisms of context generalization
While extinction is context-dependent, acquisition contexts generalize easily. Here, we investigate how context generalization is controlled by neural activity in core regions of the extinction network. The generalization and distinctiveness of neural context representations will be assessed via multivariate analysis methods. Our data will provide a unique bridge between human neuroimaging and animal electrophysiology studies of extinction learning.

Project F02: Focus Group Neuroimaging and Genetics
Meta-analytic approaches will be used to analyze the differential relationship between functional and structural connectivity and extinction learning. Hypotheses involving appetitive and aversive learning, the cerebellum, and genetic factors will be investigated.

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ERC Consolidator Grant: GridRepresentations

The entorhinal cortex (EC) contains “grid cells” that play an important role in spatial navigation. At the same time, the EC is one of the first brain regions or maybe even the very first area to be affected by neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). It was shown that shown that grid cell-like representations (GCLR) are strongly impaired in young adults at genetic risk for AD. In this project, we aim to assess the physiological mechanisms and the functional anatomy of GCLRs and other navigational systems, their impairment in preclinical populations, and their possible pharmacological restoration.

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