Iris Marmouset-de la Taille

I am interested in how the neuromodulator serotonin affects learning processes in the brain. To do so, I develop computational models of the role of serotonin in balancing externally driven learning (driven by sensory input) and internally driven learning (which involves the reorganisation of the internal model of the world through associative and/or generative processes, based on abstract rules). With this model, I aim to explain experimental data to further the understanding of the complex and multiple roles of serotonin in the brain. With this project, we could help understand and treat disorders involving learning disruption and serotonergic dysfunction, particularly those characterized by imbalances between internally and externally guided brain states such as depression or schizophrenia. At the same time, I collaborate with the Iacaruso Lab at the Francis Crick Institute (London), where, using a bottom-up approach, we aim to characterise the role of serotonin in sensory integration and in shaping behavioural outcomes, in mice.