The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) has awarded a Starting Grant to Alison Montagrin, senior lecturer in the Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, in Professor Sophie Schwartz's laboratory.  Her project, "Decoding temporal memory in habit formation and disruption: Insights from iEEG and 7T fMRI", aims to better understand how the brain forms habits, memorises when and where they occur, and how these habits can be modified when they are disrupted.

In collaboration with CISA, she will work on the habits that enable us to manage our daily lives effectively. "By giving us the ability to automate many tasks, such as locking the door before leaving home, these habits free up cognitive resources," explains the researcher. "However, even though these actions are automatic, we are still able to remember when and where they were performed, allowing us to distinguish between locking the door today and locking it yesterday."

The results of this project will have implications for both basic and clinical research, particularly in terms of better understanding how certain pathological processes – such as obsessive-compulsive disorder – can transform initially beneficial habits into maladaptive behaviours.