Lisa Mapelli obtained her Ph.D. in Physiological Sciences and Neuroscience at the University of Pavia in 2008 as a neurobiologist. After four years of postdocs at the University of Lausanne, the University of Milan, and the CNR Neuroscience Institute in Milan, she re-joined Egidio D’Angelo’s lab in 2012, where she started working on neuronal networks in the cerebellar cortex, mainly focusing on excitatory/inhibitory balance, short-term and long-term plasticity, in acute slices and in vivo. Though starting as a pure electrophysiologist at the single cell level, her research then focused on how single neurons contribute to network functions. Extracellular recordings using multielectrode arrays (in vivo and in acute slices), imaging using voltage-sensitive dyes (VSDi) and calcium indicators (in slices and in vivo), and optogenetics are the main techniques used to investigate and dissect network activity in physiological conditions and models of diseases (as the IB2 knock-out mouse model of autism). In the last years, a line of research has been devoted to unraveling the dynamic properties of neurovascular coupling in the cerebellum.
Currently, Lisa Mapelli is an Associate Professor at the Dept of Brain and Behavioral Sciences. The main research topics are:
- Cerebellar network processing of inputs, with a specific focus on network complexity and pathological alterations.
- Cerebellar contribution to other brain areas activity, with a particular interest in long-range connectivity, in physiological and pathological conditions.
- Cerebellar involvement in the emotional network (as a part of the CEN project).
The main techniques used are:
- high-density multielectrode array (HD-MEA) in acute brain and cerebellar slices
- multielectrode array in vivo (anesthetized mice)
- optogenetics
- microendoscopic calcium imaging in freely behaving mice.