Dori Derdikman

2006-2010 Postdoc in NTNU, Trondheim, Norway

2006:           PhD in Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel 

1996:           BSc in physics and mathematics w/honors. Tel-Aviv University,  Israel.

Main Nano Field: Recording of nerve cells in the brain during tasks of learning and memory, using tetrodes and micro-electrodes. Recording of nerve-cell populations during behavior. Development of new techniques for recording of multiple nerve cells in awake behaving animals.

Research Interests

How is space represented in the brain? How do we form our spatial memory? How are space and time related in the brain? What is the neuronal code for space? The newly opened lab aims at researching these and related questions. We use methods of electrophysiological nerve-cell recordings in awake behaving rats, while these perform tasks related to the perception of space, in real environments and in virtual reality. In our work in the lab we use diverse methods to conduct research, including state-of-the-art recordings using tetrodes and micro-electrodes from awake-behaving animals, both tethered and telemetry-based, virtual-reality setups for animals, opto-genetic methods, and mathematical modeling. The multi-disciplinary work in our lab hosts collaborations between biologists, electrical engineers, medical researchers, physicists, computer scientists, and mathematicians, all under the umbrella of brain science. We will record neurons in the brain's spatial cognitive map system, including grid cells in the entorhinal cortex, place cells in the hippocampus, and head-direction cells. We will  strive to understand the neural networks that encode our perception and dictate the animal's behavior in such spaces.