Team Leader

Decades of work have revealed rich neural representations of space and episodic memory in the hippocampus and neighboring cortices of mammals from rodents to humans, with provocative similarities and differences across brain regions and species. My research takes a multidisciplinary approach to better understand these representations and the functions they support, with a particular emphasis on bridging the gaps between brain regions, species, and levels of explanation. I have led and collaborated on projects leveraging a diverse range of techniques including in vivo electrophysiology in rodents, in vivo calcium imaging in rodents, chemogenetic circuit manipulations in rodents, behavior in both rodents and humans, functional magnetic resonance imaging in humans, and computational modeling with tests of the specific hypotheses generated by these models in both rodents and humans. While it is uncommon in our field for one’s work to cut across multiple techniques and species, continued advances have led to a mounting need for such work. Now as an Assistant Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, this need has become the foundational focus of my lab. 

Contact: atk@uic.edu

Biosketch (2023-07-18)

Google Scholar Profile

Graduate student (Joined June 2023)

I completed a BS in psychology with a minor in biology at UIC. Towards the end of my undergraduate degree I developed a strong fixation on the underlying computational and network dynamics of the brain. I am interested in taking a computational approach to modeling the role of the hippocampus in spatial navigation and memory. In the future, I plan on diving deep into the computational space by expanding my programming skillset with a focus on some of the network dynamics of the brain.

Contact: specir2@uic.edu

Lab Manager (Joined September 2024)

I am currently the lab manager in the Keinath Lab. I received my B.S. in neuroscience at UIC, where I became interested in the complexities of brain function and behavior. Here in the Keinath Lab, I am excited to gain new lab experience and become more familiar with the role of the hippocampus in spatial navigation. I look forward to furthering my knowledge and contributing to the lab's research.

Contact: rbarr7@uic.edu

Undergraduate Research Assistant (Joined July 2023)

My name is David Behery. I am currently an undergraduate pursuing a B.S. in psychology and minor in mathematics at UIC, expected to graduate in Spring 2025. I have become fond of studying the interactions between value dynamics and memory, and the computational processing underlying these interactions. I hope to delve into computational frameworks, modeling hippocampal-prefrontal communication subspaces to illuminate how value and memory work together.  

(2023-2025 CURA Awardee)

Contact: dbehe2@uic.edu

Undergraduate Research Assistant (Joined January 2024)

Hello! I am currently an undergraduate pursuing a B.S. in psychology with a minor in biology with an expected graduation date of Fall 2025. Over the course of my education, I have developed a strong fascination with the neural mechanisms and circuitry that underlie our ability to remember things and how this will subsequently affect our behaviors. Thanks to this lab, I have built a foundational understanding of some of these mechanisms and the contemporary techniques used to evaluate them, and I am excited to use this experience to further my knowledge of these topics. 

Contact: dgreen43@uic.edu

Undergraduate Research Assistant (Joined 2024)

Yo! My name is Michael — I’m a third-year undergrad pursing a B.S. in psychology at UIC. While I am primarily interested in pursing a graduate degree in a clinically-related work, the experience and knowledge I have gained in this lab has immensely expanded my understanding of computational neuroscience and to which extent it can be used to represent underlying neural mechanisms involved in many brain functions, including spatial navigation. In future I plan to find a meaningful way in which I can combine my own interests with a computational approach to enhance my area of expertise. 

(2024-2025 CURA Awardee)

Contact: mpigi2@uic.edu