People – Lara Chirich Barreira

Animals are all the time surrounded by stimuli in an always changing environment. I am interested in how the brain has the cognitive flexibility to incorporate part of this information and save it as learning and memory. The evolutionary conservation of these systems allows us to add rodent models experiments that also contribute to a better understanding of the human mind.

My background includes molecular biology techniques, electrophysiology records, histology, and memory and behavior tasks. During my master thesis, I studied how antidepressants affect behavior and social interaction in young rats. I also participated in the elaboration of a new paradigm of predator-prey fear in rodents. Currently, I am doing a Ph.D. to provide data on how memory formation is modulated by circadian rhythms. For this, I am interested in seeing how orexigenic neurons modulate the wakefulness system using circadian alterations, pharmacological and viral inventions.