Phone: (403) 394-3959
e-mail: ingrid.esteves@uleth.ca
Research Interests
Ingrid is an electrical engineer, M.Sc. in computational physics, and obtained her Ph.D. in neuroscience and behavior. During her Master, developed at Physics Institute of São Carlos, Ingrid has investigated the flies H1 neuron, located in the visual cortex, using extracellular recording method for precise spike timing, and studied the neural coding of motion stimuli in the framework of information theory. During her Ph.D., developed at the Department of Neuroscience and Behavior (Ribeirão Preto Medical School), Ingrid studied the effect of chronic nicotine treatment on an animal model of Alzheimer‘s disease (ICV-streptozotocin), using electrophysiological and behavioral methods for investigating acute and chronic phase of the disease and also the effect of nicotine treatment. She demonstrated the ability of chronic nicotine to prevent the streptozotocin induced recognition memory and LTP deficits on the hippocampus-prefrontal cortex pathway.
Biography
The main focus of his research is the physiological and computational basis of cognition, with particular focus on memory and memory disorders, and the dynamic interactions among neuronal populations and synaptic plasticity mechanisms that underlie these phenomena. Bruce has made significant contributions to the understanding of central synaptic plasticity mechanisms, spatial information processing in the hippocampal formation and cortex, cortico-hippocampal interactions and memory consolidation, and the aging of the nervous system. His current activities focus on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying spatial orientation (‘head-direction’, ‘place’, and ‘grid’ cells in the hippocampal formation and associated networks), the reactivation of memory traces in the cortex during sleep following learning and the role of this process in memory consolidation, and the self organization of synaptic networks during early post-natal development of the temporal lobe memory system. Throughout his career he has been involved in the development and application of new conceptual approaches and innovative technologies to his research questions.
Degrees
- Ph.D. at the University of São Paulo – Ribeirão Preto Medical School (Brasil), 2016.
- M.Sc. at the University of São Paulo, Physics Institute of São Carlos (Brasil), 2010.
- B.Sc. Electrical Engineering at the University of São Paulo – São Carlos School of Engineering (Brasil), 2007.