Dr Marta Zlatic FRS

Group website: Zlatic Lab

My research group aims to understand the basic principles by which neural circuits implement fundamental computations, in particular learning and memory-based decision-making. We have pioneered an interdisciplinary approach that combines brain-wide analysis of neural connectivity, activity, gene expression and behaviour in the tractable model system, the Drosophila larva. We have also generated essential tools and resources for bridging the gap between behaviour, circuits, neurons and genes, including high-throughput methods for determining the behavioural roles of individual neuron types; synaptic-resolution connectivity maps of the entire insect brain and comprehensive single-cell transcriptomic atlases of the larval nervous system. By combining structural and functional connectivity maps with targeted manipulation of specific neurons and behavioural studies, we have discovered fundamental principles that govern circuit assembly and uncovered key mechanisms by which multisensory integration, action-selection and learning are implemented in the brain.