BRAIN AND MEMORY LAB (BAM)

We cannot remember everything. The brain must continuously select which experiences to retain. While emotion often enhances memory, our research shows that goal relevance, rather than emotional intensity per se, is a central filter of episodic memory: experiences that are goal-relevant are preferentially consolidated and guide behavior.

At the BAM Lab, we investigate how memory supports adaptive behavior across time.

Episodic memory depends on the hippocampus and is fundamentally spatio-temporal. Memories allow us not only to reconstruct the past, but also to project ourselves into the future and align present decisions with long-term goals. We study how representations of past, present, and future events are organized within the hippocampus, and how dynamic goal states shape this temporal architecture.

Traditionally, memory systems, such as episodic, semantic, and habit learning, have been studied separately. We propose a different framework: Memory systems form a dynamic continuum in which goal relevance interacts with spatial and temporal dimensions.

Using immersive virtual reality paradigms and ultra-high-field 7T MRI, we examine how episodic memory interacts with habit formation, how the brain tracks when and where habits occur, and how adaptive habits progressively become more automatic and less cognitively demanding over time.

Understanding how habits are embedded within memory systems is crucial for both fundamental and clinical research. It sheds light on how pathological processes, such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, can transform beneficial habits into maladaptive and rigid behaviors.