Adi Kol – Adi presented her project: “Astrocytic effects on synaptic and homeostatic plasticity” at the "Forum of Neuroscience 2018" in July 2018. Adi is a PhD student at Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, HUJI. Supervisor: Dr. Inbal Goshen

Gal Vishne: Gal attended the course “Consciousness: from theory to practice”. Gal is a PhD student at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, HUJI. Supervisors: Prof. Merav Ahissar and Prof. Leon Deouell.

Michal Goldstein – Michal presented her project: “"Perceiving musical intervals: a test case for categorical perception" at the 15th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition in June 2018. Michal is a second year M.A. student in the Musicology and Cognitive Sciences depts., HUJI. Supervisor: Dr. Ayelet Landau and Prof. Roni Grant.

Noa Roitenberg – Noa presented her project: “"Modulation of caveolae by Insulin/IGF-1 signaling regulates aging of caenorhabditis elegans" at the 2018 Celegans “Topics” Meeting in June 2018. Noa is a PhD student at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, HUJI. Supervisor: Prof. Ehud Cohen.

Reut Suliman – Reut presented her project: "Pogz mutation leads to abnormal behavior and transcription dysregulation in the brain" at the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) in May 2018. Reut is a PhD student at the Department of Genetics, HUJI. Supervisor: Prof. Sagiv Shifman.

Robert Goldstein – Robert will present his project: “Physiological and functional organization of peripheral free nerve endings” at the World Congress on Pain by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) in September 2018. Robert is a PhD student at the Department of Medical Neurobiology, HUJI. Supervisor: Prof. Alex Binshtok.

Louisa Bogaerts – Louisa will present her project: “"Neural oscillations as a brain signature of statistical learning?" at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Neurobiology of Language. Louisa is a postdoctoral fellow at Prof. Ram Frost’s Verbal Processing Lab, Psychology dept., HUJI.

Rohini Bansal – Rohini presented her project: "Functional evaluation of chemical communication in wild mice" at the Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) 2018 in April 2018. Rohini is a postdoctoral fellow at Dr. Yoram Ben-Shaul’s lab, Medical Neurobiology dept., HUJI.

The JBC is glad to be a growing organization. Please meet our newest members:

Dr. Ithai Rabinowitch is a Senior Lecturer , HUJI, and a member of the Department of Medical Neurobiology at the Faculty of Medicine in Ein Kerem. Dr. Rabinowitch holds a B.A. in Industrial Engineering from TAU, and a PhD in Computational Neuroscience from HUJI. He has done extensive postdoctoral work on neural circuits and behavior using the miniature roundworm C. elegans, which included the successful genetic insertion of mouse electrical synapses between C. elegans’ neurons. His lab studies basic mechanisms of brain operation with an emphasis on the role of synaptic connectivity in determining neural circuit function.

Dr. Ruth Mayo is an Associate Professor at the Psychology Dept., HUJI. Dr. Mayo received her B.A., M.A., and PhD from HUJI, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. Additionally, she has received a number of distinguished academic awards and has published extensively in academic journals. Dr. Mayo’s research focuses on the effect of context on our mind, specifically regarding negation and falsification processes. She studies the effect of the context of trust and distrust regarding cognition.

Amir Dahari, Mathematics Dept., HUJI; research proposal: “Gray and White Matter Network Analysis Using qMRI”. Through his research, Amir will seek new insights into the organization of human brain networks at the macroscale level. With his mathematical knowledge in network science and graph theory, he hopes to contribute to neuroscience research, especially in the field of brain network analysis. Advisor: Dr. Aviv Mezer, Senior Lecturer, Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, HUJI.

Dan Beniamini, Biology and Cognitive Science Depts, HUJI; research proposal: “Can High-Frequency Broadband Brain Responses Be Recorded from the Scalp?” Dan’s research will address the contemporary interest in measuring neural activity markers more accurately and in a non-invasive manner via the scalp. His goal is not only to further research into this elusive measurement, but also to discover a solution to counter the difficulties in this area of EEG research. Advisor: Prof. Leon Y. Deouell, Faculty of Social Sciences, Psychology Dept., HUJI.

Hagar Goldenberg, Psychology Dept., HUJI; research proposal: “The Role of the Neurogenesis-Related Gene Sox11 in the Microglia-Dependent Anti-Depressive Effect of Electroconvulsive Therapy”. Hagar’s research aims to elucidate underlying biological mechanisms of major depression. Given the accumulating number of findings that point to the involvement of microglia in depression, Hagar hopes to provide insight into the mechanism in which microglia mediate the anti-depressive effect of ECT. She also hopes that this insight will have ample theoretical and practical implications for the treatment of this disorder. Advisor: Prof. Raz Yirmiya, Social Sciences Faculty, Psychology Dept., HUJI. 

Om er Dar, Psychobiology Dept., HUJI; research proposal: “The Neural Mechanisms Behind Gamma Waves”. The goal of Omer’s research is to increase the understanding of the neural mechanisms behind Gamma waves using the “Blue Brain” model, and of how Gamma might affect disease pathogenesis. Advisor: Prof. Idan Segev, Natural Sciences Faculty, Neurobiology Dept., HUJI.

Yahel Cohen, Life Sciences Dept., HUJI; research proposal: “Sex Bias in Autism: Genes, Hormones and Neurogenesis”. Yahel will focus on the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in males in order to research differences between males and females in cognitive and social behaviors. Advisor: Sagiv Shifman, Faculty of Science, Genetics Dept., HUJI.

Yoav R ubinstein, Physics Dept., HUJI; research proposal: “The Effect of Inhibitory Neurons and Network’s Motifs on the Learning Process that Shapes the Final Structure of a Neural Network’s Architecture”. Yoav is interested in findings about the encouragement of the STDP function of certain motifs in the architecture of networks of excitatory neurons, along with the potential of these motifs to predict outcoming structure. He hopes to explore whether this theory can be adapted to inhibitory neurons, and whether there are any significant differences for this theory between inhibitory and excitatory neurons. Advisor: Dr. Yoram Burak, Faculty of Science, Racah Institute of Physics, HUJI

Esti Amsalem, Psychology Dept., HUJI; research proposal: “Effects of Intranasal Oxytocin on Empathy in ASD Subjects with and without Comorbid Alexithymia”. With her research, Esti hopes to provide supportive evidence for the hypothesis that wide heterogeneity in empathy and social-emotional abnormalities observed in the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) population are a reflection of the presence or absence of alexithymia. Moreover, she hopes that these findings will constitute evidence against the popular view that oxytocin acts as a universal pro-social enhancer that can universally improve social abilities. Advisor: Dr. Anat Perry, Social Science Faculty, Psychology Dept., HUJI

Matan Shaked, Psychology and Political Science Depts, HUJI; research proposal: “Overcoming ‘Something’ vs. Overcoming ‘Nothing’?” Matan will research the cognitive and neural consequences of cases in which people seem to inhibit “blanks” -- i.e. cognition whose content is a lack of representation. He hopes to contribute to a further understanding of the predictive brain framework. Advisors: Prof. Anat Maril and Dr. Tali Kleiman, Social Sciences Faculty, Psychology Dept., HUJI.

Shir Genzer, Life Science Dept, HUJI; research proposal: “Empathic Accuracy in Autism Spectrum Disorder”.  Shir will study Emphatic Accuracy in a high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder population, in collaboration with the Hebrew University’s Autism Center. Advisor: Dr. Anat Perry, Faculty of Social Sciences, Psychology Department, HUJI.

Slav Pesin, Psychology Dept., HUJI; research proposal: “Characterizing Psychophysics in the Tactile Modality: Spatial and Temporal Properties”. Slav will continue his exploration of spatial interference and temporal prediction through psychophysical experiments that assess detection thresholds of given targets. Advisor: Dr. Ayelet N. Landau, Social Sciences Faculty, Psychology Dept., HUJI.

Victor Yahid, Institute of Dental Medicine, HUJI; research proposal: “The Role of Protein S in Microglia Following CNS Injury”. In an effort to shed light on Traumatic Brain Injury, Victor hopes to overcome contemporary hurdles of testing the role of PROS1 expressed by microglia by enhancing clearance of debris by professional phagocytes and limiting inflammation at the same time. Advisor: Dr. Tal Burstyn-Cohen, Dental Medicine Faculty, Institute for Dental Research, HUJI

Yair Lellouche, Life Science Dept, HUJI; research proposal: “Connectivity and Molecular Characterization of the Mesopontine Tegmental Anesthesia Area (MPTA)”. Yair plans to complete an ongoing study of connectivity between MPTA neurons and their rostral (forebrain) targets, with emphasis on the degree of collateralization of MPTA neurons to their projection sites; then, moving on to focus on revealing the molecular properties and diversity of MPTA neurons, more specifically the identity of the receptors and neurotransmitters which enable the unique functionality of these neurons. Advisor: Dr. Marshall Devor, Science Faculty, Life Science Dept., HUJI

Ganit Kupershmidt, Computer Science and Psychology Depts., HUJI; research proposal: “How One’s State of Mind Influences Visual Exploration and How the Brain Plays a Role in this Process”.  Ganit will research the relationship between direct and diffuse effects of emotional events. She will seek findings that can extend our understanding about visual exploration of a person in a mindset of fear. Advisor: Dr. Yoni Pertzov, Social Science Faculty, Psychology Dept., HUJI

Offered by the JBC, the Golden Opportunity Scholarship supports 15 month-long fellowships for undergraduate students starting the second semester of their 3rd year studies, extending into the first year of graduate studies. These fellowships are only be awarded to students conducting research in a laboratory of an active JBC member. For more information click here.