Our Team/ 03

People

Meet the researchers decoding the brain.

Principal Investigator

Ali Mohebi

Principal Investigator

Behavioral neuroscientist and electrical engineer investigating how neuromodulatory circuits shape learning, decision-making, and cognitive control.

Current Members

Robert Spencer, PhD

Research Scientist

Brings experience studying how catecholamine systems shape prefrontal cognition, motivation, and goal-directed behavior.

Esther Lara Gonzalez, PhD

Research Scientist

Brings expertise in striatal microcircuits and dopamine–acetylcholine interactions, including cellular imaging and neuronal-ensemble analysis.

Tianrui Yang

Graduate Student

Works at the intersection of neurobiology and computer science, with an interest in computational models of neural circuits and cognition.

Collaborators

Listed alphabetically.

David Ehrlich, PhD

Assistant Professor, UW–Madison

Studies how interactions between the nervous system and body control movement, with emphasis on development and behavioral state.

Vijay Mohan K Namboodiri, PhD

Associate Professor, UCSF

Collaborates on how dopamine signals represent reward timing and adapt to environmental timescales.

Tommaso Patriarchi, PhD

Associate Professor, University of Zurich

Contributes expertise in genetically encoded fluorescent neuromodulator sensors and in vivo imaging.

Shervin Safavi, PhD

Assistant Professor, TU Dresden

Contributes computational-neuroscience and neural-data modeling expertise for linking cognitive algorithms to circuit dynamics.

Roxana Zeraati, PhD

Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics

Brings expertise in multi-timescale neural dynamics and adaptive decision-making, studying how animals learn environmental dynamics to guide foraging behavior.

Alumni

Lilian Pelattini

Former Lab Manager