Current Research
Mentor: Mark J. Schnitzer, PhD
Monique Mendes is working to understand how astrocytes – specialized cells of the central nervous system – coordinate and respond to neuronal activity across brain states and behavior. Mendes wants to use novel imaging technology to simultaneously study the activity of neuronal populations and astrocytes in awake behaving mice. Identifying the mechanism that drives these interactions will answer fundamental questions about astrocyte physiology and the causal influence of astrocyte activity on neural circuits.