Research Overview

I am an experimental neuroscientist interested in how neuronal connectivity forms and is shaped to endow neuronal networks with their unique computational abilities. My research focusses on the dynamics of how sensory information is perceived and then transformed into motor outputs and on studying neuronal circuits’ ability to adapt in order to support diverse and sometimes opposing behaviours.

Biography

I obtained my BSc in Human Biology and an MRes in Biomedical Research from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, sparking my interest in synaptic plasticity's role in shaping neuronal connections. This led me to the University of Cambridge and Professor Ole Paulsen’s lab, where my MRes project and subsequent PhD research, funded by a Michael Foster Scholarship in Physiology, focused on how neuronal connections can be dynamically modified through synaptic plasticity, particularly during sleep. My doctoral research revealed that sleep enhances the efficiency of information storage in the brain by selectively preserving strong neuronal connections associated with specific concepts or memories while eliminating weaker ones.
Post-PhD, I joined Marco Tripodi's lab at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology first as an MRC postdoctoral Career Development Fellow and then as a Henslow Research Fellow. There, I studied how the brain interprets and transforms sensory information into motor actions I discovered that our brain acts like a motion sensor by prioritising the movement of sensory targets to drive behaviour—an insight that challenges traditional views of sensorimotor transformations.

Research Interest

At the University of Glasgow, my lab will examine the intersection of circuit plasticity and sensorimotor encoding, employing electrophysiology, viral and genetic tools, and behavioural tasks. We aim to understand how neuronal sensorimotor circuits support diverse behaviours and adapt to new or changing behavioural demands. This research will advance our understanding of neural plasticity and circuit functionality, with potential applications in treating neurological disorders.

Publications

Scopus ID: 559943724 / ✉: co-corresponding / *: contributed equally

1. González-Rueda A✉ , Jensen K, Noormandipour M, de Malmazet D, Wilson J, Ciabatti E, Kim J, Williams E, Poor J, HennequinG, Tripodi M✉. (2024) Kinetic features dictate sensorimotor alignment in the superior colliculus. Nature 631 (8020), 378-385.


2. Lee H*, Ciabatti E*✉:, González-Rueda A, Williams E, Nugent F, Mookerjee S, Morgese F, Tripodi M✉:. (2023) Combining long-term circuit mapping and network transcriptomics with SiR-N2c. Nature Methods 20(4):580-589.


3. Ciabatti E, González-Rueda A , de Malmazet D, Lee H, Morgese F, Tripodi M. (2023) Genomic stability of Self-inactivating Rabies. eLife 12.


4. González-Rueda A , Tripodi M. (2019) Éloge de la Fuite: Neural Circuits for Avoiding Dangerous Situations. TINS 42(10):657-59.


5. González-Rueda A✉: , Pedrosa V, Feord R, Clopath C, Paulsen O✉:. (2018) Activity-dependent downscaling of subthreshold synaptic inputs during slow wave sleep-like activity in vivo. Neuron 97:1-7.


6. Ciabatti E, González-Rueda A , Mariotti L, Morgese F, Tripodi M. (2017) Lifelong genetic and functional access to neural circuits using self-inactivating rabies virus. Cell 170(2):382-92.


7. Iovino M, Agathou S, González-Rueda A , del Castillo Velasco-Herrera M, Borroni B, Alberici A, Lynch T, O’Dowd S, Geti I, Gaffney D, Vallier L, Paulsen O, Karadottir RT, Spillantini MG. (2015) Early maturation and distinct tau pathology in IPS-derived neurons from patients with MAPT mutations. Brain 138(11):3345-59.


8. González-Rueda A. (2014) Whole-cell patch clamp protocol for hESC-derived neurons. Axol Bioscience Expert Protocol Series. Available online.


9. Banerjee A*, González-Rueda A* , Sampaio-Baptista C, Paulsen O, Rodríguez-Moreno A. (2014) Distinct mechanisms of spike timing-dependent LTD at vertical and horizontal inputs onto L2/3 pyramidal neurons in mouse barrel cortex. Physiol Rep 2(3).


10. Rodríguez-Moreno A, González-Rueda A* , Banerjee A*, Upton AL*, Craig MT, Paulsen O. (2013) Presynaptic self-depression at developing neocortical synapses. Neuron 77:35-43.