Learning and neural plasticity - From single neurons to behavior

We study the neural basis of learning and memory in both humans and animal models. Our main focus is on how memories are encoded and consolidated in the brain.
tutkimusryhmä kuvattuna keväällä 2025

Table of contents

Research group type
Research group
Core fields of research
Learning, teaching and interaction
Research areas
Faculty of Education and Psychology - Research areas
Department of Psychology - Research areas
Brain and psychophysiological research
Behaviour change, health, and well-being across the lifespan
Faculty
Faculty of Education and Psychology
Department
Department of Psychology

Research group description

We use both animal models and human volunteers to study how memories are formed and stored in the brain. We concentrate on the role of the hippocampus as an orchestrator of relational learning in the mammalian brain. More specifically, we study changes in the activity of single neurons and groups of thousands of neurons, and how these relate to adaptation of behavior. We are also interested in the connection between bodily rhythms like respiration and heartbeat and electrophysiological oscillations of the brain, and how this connection then regulates learning. In our research we make use of closed-loop setups where we monitor behavioral, bodily and brain state in real-time and use the information to control experimental manipulations.

Selected publications:

  • Santhana Gopalan, P. R., Xu, W., Waselius, T., Wikgren, J., Penttonen, M., & Nokia, M. S. (2024). Cardiorespiratory rhythm-contingent trace eyeblink conditioning in elderly adults. Journal of Neurophysiology, 131(5), 797-806. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00356.2023 
  • Nokia, M., Gureviciene, I., Waselius, T., Tanila, H., & Penttonen, M. (2017). Hippocampal electrical stimulation disrupts associative learning when targeted at dentate spikes. Journal of Physiology, 595(14), 4961-4971. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP274023
  • Nokia, M. S., & Penttonen, M. (2022). Rhythmic Memory Consolidation in the Hippocampus. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 16, Article 885684. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2022.885684 

Research group