Stephanie Grella

Stephanie Grella is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Loyola University Chicago, where she leads the Memory & Neuro modulatory Mechanisms (MNEME) Lab. Her research bridges systems neuroscience and psychiatric disease models, focusing on memory malleability and neuromodulatory systems like noreadrenergic and dopaminergic inputs to the hippocampus.

• Education: BSc from University of Toronto, MSc from University of Guelph, PhD from Wilfrid Laurier University, and postdoctoral training at Harvard University and Boston University.

Within a systems-neuroscience framework, Dr. Grella examines how stress and anxiety disorders perturb hippocampal ensemble dynamics and memory updating. Her work aims to identify target circuits in PTSD and reset maladaptive memories using optogenetic and pharmacological approaches. Her lab employs mouse models to dissect the interplay between memory stability and flexibility.

The MNEME Lab investigates retrieval-induced plasticity, noradrenergic/dopaminergic modulation, and hippocampal-amygdala engram interactions. Key trends include neuromodulatory mechanisms in fear memory disruption, stress-related behavioral flexibility, and sensory cue influences on consolidation.

Her publications span high-impact journals such as Nature Communications, Learning & Memory, and Journal of Neuroscience, with recent work (2024) exploring locus coeruleus contributions to contextual memory engrams. Additional research in 2022–2020 investigates engram dynamics in fear relapse, optogenetic memory resetting, and norepinephrine's dual role in adaptive/maladaptive memory processes.

Dr. Grella teaches PSYC 382: Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, integrating her expertise in neural mechanisms of learning and memory into undergraduate education. Her work has implications for targeting memory circuits in psychiatric disorders, though no specific awards are mentioned in current profiles.