Miriam Matamales

Dr. Miriam Matamales is a UNSW Scientia Fellow (Level C) in the School of Psychology at the University of New South Wales. She leads the Neuromodulatory Systems and Behaviour group within the Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, focusing on understanding how neuromodulatory systems support plasticity in subcortical brain networks for generating and modifying voluntary behaviors.

Education:

• Ph.D. Neuroscience, Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, France (2009)
• Master in Biomedical Research, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain (2007)
• Bachelor of Human Biology, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain (2006)

Dr. Matamales' research combines innovative high-throughput fluorescence microscopy and computational image analysis to understand how the functional architecture of the striatum encodes goal-directed learning and how its dysfunction impairs normal behavior. Her work primarily focuses on neuromodulatory systems (dopamine, acetylcholine, neuropeptides) supporting plasticity in subcortical brain networks, particularly the striatum and basal ganglia pathways. She uses mice as experimental models with approaches including instrumental conditioning, AAV-based circuit- and cell-specific tracing and manipulation in behaving animals, in vivo photometry and computational analysis of behavioral and neuronal data.

Analysis of Dr. Matamales' recent publications shows a strong focus on striatal function, goal-directed learning mechanisms, and age-related changes in neural circuits. Her work spans from molecular neuroscience examining DARPP-32 signaling to systems-level investigations of basal ganglia circuits and their role in behavior.

Scientific Awards:

• UNSW Dean of Science Early Career Excellence Award (2020)
• UNSW's Vice-Chancellor's Childcare Support Fund for Women Researchers (2019)
• Paxinos-Watson Award from the Australasian Neuroscience Society (2017)

Dr. Matamales has successfully secured multiple competitive grants including NHMRC Ideas Grants as both Lead CI and CIB, an ARC Discovery Project as Lead Investigator, and a Tourette Association of America Young Investigator Award as sole CI. She currently supervises PhD student Jonathon Jacobs on research related to the molecular footprint of instrumental learning in the striatum. In addition to her research, she teaches in the UNSW NEUR2201 Neuroscience Fundamentals course and serves as invited faculty at the Australasian Course in Advanced Neuroscience.

Her laboratory, the Neuromodulatory Systems and Behaviour group (www.neuromodulab.org), investigates how learning is encoded in brain circuits and how new behaviors imprint in neuronal circuits during generation, maturation, and adaptation to environmental rule changes.