We are pleased to welcome Dr Guy Yona to the Unit as a Postdoctoral Neuroscientist in the Magill Group.

Guy originally graduated with a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and a B.A. in Physics from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, and then received his M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Tel-Aviv University, Israel. In 2017, Guy obtained his Ph.D. from the Technion, where he studied motor network activity in the brains of spontaneously running animals using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). As part of these studies, Guy also used optogenetic stimulation and models of Parkinsonism. In order to achieve precise spatial control with optogenetics over large areas of the motor cortex, Guy developed a holographic patterned projection system with a chronic implant for use inside the MRI scanner.

Here in the Unit, Guy will be defining the encoding of movement by basal ganglia neurons and how this is perturbed in Parkinsonism, using a combination of in vivo electrophysiological recordings, cell-type-selective manipulations, and behavioural analyses.