Arbora Resulaj

Campus

UTM

CSB Appointment

Full

Research Areas

Neurobiology, Physiology, Systems Biology

Education

Ph.D University of Cambridge 2013,
BASc University of Toronto 2007

Titles and Honors

NIH Pathway to Independence Award

Primary Undergraduate Department

Biology, UTM

Graduate Programs

Cell & Systems Biology

Research Description

Playing a game of chess, driving a car, or even reading this sentence all require that the brain retain and integrate information over short periods of time. This retaining of information is accomplished by short-term memory. Pioneering work in humans and non-human primates has shown that several cortical areas have a memory trace during the short-term memory period. Yet, the causal contribution of each cortical area to short-term memory remains unknown. Furthermore, at a mechanistic level, short-term memory remains a mystery. On one hand, the timescale is too short for synaptic plasticity mechanisms classically associated with long term memory. On the other hand, the time course of short-term memory is much longer than the intrinsic neuronal dynamics. Indeed, neuronal activity rapidly ceases in the absence of continuous excitatory synaptic input. Theoretical models predict several ways that information can flow through a population of neurons to maintain the memory trace yet experimental data to test these models is lacking. We use the mouse, as a model system, to study 1) the role of the distinct cortical areas in short-term memory and decision-making, 2) how relevant signals are routed from primary visual cortex to other cortical areas, and 3) how neural circuits maintain the short-term memory trace. Our work builds upon our training in engineering, human cognition, mouse olfactory and visual behaviors, combined with our expertise in electrophysiology, anatomical and viral techniques and more recently calcium imaging.