Lab Overview

Our research focuses on the study of the organization and dynamics of cortical brain circuits, and their disruption in disease. We use experimental and theoretical (computational) approaches to study molecular, synaptic, cellular interactions and interareal network connectivity, as the basis of cognitive and emotional processing for flexible attention and goal-oriented behavior. We combine neuropathology, molecular biology, imaging, machine learning, computational neural networks, and artificial intelligence with the aim to identify biomarkers and fundamental mechanisms underlying brain circuit and network disruptions in mental and neurological disorders, including autism, schizophrenia, depression, attention, mood, and anxiety disorders, as well as neurodegenerative disorders, like Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s diseases.

Lab Director and Principal Investigator:

Prof. Basilis Zikopoulos  (Vasileios Zikopoulos, Βασίλειος Ζηκόπουλος)

Email: zikopoul@bu.edu

Our lab is affiliated with several interdisciplinary neuroscience initiatives centered at Boston University: 

Graduate Program for Neuroscience (GPN)

Center for Systems Neuroscience (CSN)

Graduate Program in Human Physiology (MS or PhD)

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine

Collaborators

Helen Barbas, PhD, Neural Systems Lab, Boston University

Arash Yazdanbakhsh, MD, PhD, Computational Neuroscience & Vision Lab, Boston University

Sabina Berretta, MD, Translational Neuroscience Laboratory and Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, McLean Hospital, Harvard University

Miguel Ángel García Cabezas, MD, PhD, Department of Anatomy, Histology & Neuroscience, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Neurocytology Algorithm

Learn how to distinguish neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia and endothelial cells in the cerebral cortex. Follow our ALGORITHM and take the NEUROCYTOLOGY TEST.