Fischell Institute Spotlight: Ricardo Araneda

Ricardo Araneda is a Fischell Institute Affiliate Fellow and a professor in the Department of Biology.

The main focus of his laboratory is to understand how neuromodulatory transmitters regulate the function of brain circuits and influence sensory processing, using the olfactory system as a model. To research this, Araneda leverages his knowledge of synaptic function, electrophysiology, and pharmacology to study neuromodulation in the context of behavior in healthy aging and disease.

Araneda became involved with the Institute while collaborating with Fischell Institute Fellow Pamela Abshire and Fischell Institute Affiliate Fellow Timothy Horiuchi, both from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The team (Araneda, Abshire, and Horiuchi) was awarded a five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to study the synaptic complexities that support the learning and computations of neural networks. Most of the experiments in this project are conducted in the Co-PI’s lab located in the heart of the Fischell Institute, on the fifth floor of A. James Clark Hall.

Araneda finds collaborations with colleagues in other fields empowering, as his research interests are often fostered through such partnerships.

“I like to learn about new areas of research and different experimental approaches to answer questions I am interested in,” he said. “Our collaboration for the NSF grant brings together several areas of expertise to understand synaptic function, including implementing algorithms to examine single-neuron computations.”

In the future, he would like to explore other experimental approaches and learn about computational neuroscience, especially considering the breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.

Outside of work, Araneda enjoys traveling, photography, running, and hiking with his labrador retriever, Lonco.

Published May 4, 2023