The ability to act in response to environmental stimuli and internal motivation is a fundamental behavior of all animals. The characterization of mechanisms that lead to optimal control of behavioral output is a central quest in behavioral and brain research. On this notion, my current work focuses on behavioral flexibility, a process that is vital for the successful adaptation of an organism in a dynamic environment. In detail, 1) what are the neuronal circuits involved, 2) how does these circuits dynamically adjust to form new skills, and 3) what are the neuronal mechanisms that govern the selection of the appropriate action.
I started my scientific carrier in 1999 in the United Kingdom with B.Sci. in Molecular Biology (University of Hertfordshire) and 2001 a M.Sci. in immunology and genetics (University of Manchester). In 2004 I thereafter proceeded and received my PhD and second multidisciplinary M.Sci. in Neuroscience, at the University of Crete Medial School, Greece. My PhD was obtained in the Department of Pharmacology, Medical school, and involved the study of endogenous and synthetic neurosteroids as potential ligands of neurotrophin receptors and as therapeutic agents in neurodegenerative disease. My initial work as a postdoc at Karolinska institute focused on mapping brain connectivity with the use of genetically modified Rabies Virus in transgenic mice. More recently, I have been dissecting the role of distinct cell types in the pallidal-habenular and hypothalamic-habenular pathways in the regulation of behaviors depending on the encoding of reward and punishment by using an array of technologies such as optogenetics, calcium imaging in freely moving animals, calcium imaging photometry, viral tracing techniques, single cell sequencing, development and use of transgenic mice models. Finally, I also worked in delineating the role of dorsomedial striatum (DMS) in learning of complex motor behaviors by performing in vivo calcium imaging in freely moving animals, using a head-mounted miniature microscope to record the activity of the direct (D1-Cre mice) indirect (D2-Cre mice) and putative striosomal (Oprm1-Cre mice) striatal projection neurons, during natural and goal directed behaviors.
Email: iaklaz@mit.edu
I started my scientific carrier in 1999 in the United Kingdom with B.Sci. in Molecular Biology (University of Hertfordshire) and 2001 a M.Sci. in immunology and genetics (University of Manchester). In 2004 I thereafter proceeded and received my PhD and second multidisciplinary M.Sci. in Neuroscience, at the University of Crete Medial School, Greece. My PhD was obtained in the Department of Pharmacology, Medical school, and involved the study of endogenous and synthetic neurosteroids as potential ligands of neurotrophin receptors and as therapeutic agents in neurodegenerative disease. My initial work as a postdoc at Karolinska institute focused on mapping brain connectivity with the use of genetically modified Rabies Virus in transgenic mice. More recently, I have been dissecting the role of distinct cell types in the pallidal-habenular and hypothalamic-habenular pathways in the regulation of behaviors depending on the encoding of reward and punishment by using an array of technologies such as optogenetics, calcium imaging in freely moving animals, calcium imaging photometry, viral tracing techniques, single cell sequencing, development and use of transgenic mice models. Finally, I also worked in delineating the role of dorsomedial striatum (DMS) in learning of complex motor behaviors by performing in vivo calcium imaging in freely moving animals, using a head-mounted miniature microscope to record the activity of the direct (D1-Cre mice) indirect (D2-Cre mice) and putative striosomal (Oprm1-Cre mice) striatal projection neurons, during natural and goal directed behaviors.
Email: iaklaz@mit.edu