Mihaela Iordanova, Ph.D

Full biography of Dr. Mihaela Iordanova.
Contact Dr. Iordanova: mihaela.iordanova {@} concordia.ca

Follow @iordanova_lab

Alex Usypchuk

My name is Alex and I’m currently pursuing my Master’s degree after completing a Bsc in Behavioral Neuroscience at Concordia. I study reward prediction error in VTA dopamine neurons using optogenetics. The traditional belief that VTA dopamine only encodes changes in value has come under scrutiny in the learning field. Our research will contribute to the debate. In my spare time, you can find me at Tim Hortons fueling my high levels of energy while watching bird videos (I have a particularly soft spot for chickens).

Etienne Maes

I am an MDCM & PhD student at McGill University under the supervision of Drs Mark Brandon and Mihaela Iordanova. I study the role of midbrain dopamine signalling in prediction error, and how the brain uses this teaching signal to update higher-order associations and spatial representations in hippocampus, using a combination of behaviour, chemogenetics, optogenetics, and Miniscope calcium imaging. I am interested in studying how the brain drives behaviour in order to better model what specific neural computations are altered in disordered cognition. I am also the Head of Publications at Sex[M]ed, an educational platform for healthcare practitioners. When not pursuing my ultimate passion (sleeping), you can find me taking care of my plants, or agonizing over where to place a comma in an unexceptional piece of poetry.

Sepideh Hosseini

I am a Ph.D. student in the Iordanova Lab. I study how fear memories function and interact within the basolateral amygdala (BLA), at the behavioral and neuronal level, which could lead to the formation of adaptive or maladaptive behavioral patterns. Overall, the answer to this question will help understand disorders related to dysfunctional fear systems, such as PTSD. This comprehensive approach to the study involves the use of behavioral designs of fear conditioning, Daun02 inactivation in Fos-LacZ transgenic rats for memory deactivation, and electrophysiology to analyze electrical activation levels in the brain upon manipulation. Beyond academia, I like reading and poetry. 

Bhoomi Sati

I received my Bachelor’s in Psychology from Delhi University, India. I’m currently pursuing my Master’s in Psychology from Concordia University aiming for Ph.D. In my work at the Iordanova Lab, my primary focus in the lab pertains to overexpectation. Through this approach, we are able to probe the universality of brain regions involved in extinction learning and shed light on the behavioural processes supported by specific brain areas. Furthermore, I have conducted experiments related to Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer, which investigates how instrumental responses to similar or dissimilar rewards can be influenced by Pavlovian conditioned stimuli (CS) associated with a reward. I have also been involved in studies that use the Daun02 inactivation procedure to disrupt the function of activity-dependent neurons and study the impact this neuronal loss has on behaviour. Outside of the lab, I like reading and binge-watching shows.  

Dimitrios K. Avramidis 

I grew up in Vancouver, BC and obtained my BA in Psychology from the University of British Columbia. My master’s thesis aims to elucidate the neural communication between the Locus Coeruleus and Basolateral Amygdala during appetitive extinction. I utilize genetically modified rats (TH-Cre) paired with optogenetics or DREADDs to selectively inhibit or excite this neural circuit while rats learn that a cue, which has previously been paired with reward (tone → chocolate pellet), no longer signals such reward (tone → no chocolate pellet). 

Shuwen Li

After graduated with an Neuroscience B.S. degree from the University of Iowa in 2020, I joined the Pignatelli Lab at Washington University in St.Louis as a full-time research technician investigating the neural mechanism of fasti-acting antidepressant, and now I’m continuing my research journey at Iordanova Lab as a graduate student, with a focus on fear discrimination and generalization using in-vivo electrophysiology. I broad research interest is how changes in synaptic plasticity/neural activity change the way we perceive and interact with the outside world with a lean towards psychiatry. Outside of the lab I have too many hobbies to keep up with…music, archery, historical costuming, Chinese calligraphy, the list goes on 🙂

Vanessa Hasenhundl  

I joined the Iordanova lab as an honours thesis student, where I had the opportunity to investigate the mechanism through which a secondary cue becomes endowed with fear eliciting properties by virtue of its association with the first order cue, a fear predictor. My findings provide insight into a specific cognitive process that may underlie a form of maladaptive learning. I now work as a research assistant, expanding upon my research by selectively inactivating neural pathways (DREADDS) during higher-order learning protocols. Outside of the lab, I enjoy reading and spending time in nature.