Dr Andre Ferreira CastroUniversity positionResearch Associate DepartmentsDepartment of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience InstitutesMedical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology Home pagehttp://aferreiracastro.com (personal home page) Research ThemesInterestsMy research has thus far been driven by my fascination with the relationship between shape and function in neuroscience. My particular focus has been on understanding how distinct neuronal structural patterns emerge during development and enable the manipulation of sensory and biological signals. To this end, I have designed experiments and created tools for quantifying and modelling structural changes in circuits during development, learning, or after mutations. Thanks to modern advancements in electron microscopy, neuroscience has entered a revolutionary new era, where whole-circuit modelling and comparative connectomics are viable. My multi-disciplinary research, which combines connectomics datasets, computational modelling, mathematical theory, and machine learning, endeavors to uncover new neurobiological mechanisms, as well as inform more efficient machine learning algorithms. Research Focus
EquipmentCalcium imaging Computational modelling Confocal microscopy Electrophysiological recording techniques Microscopy Collaborators
Associated News ItemsKey publicationsFerreira Castro, A., Baltruschat, L., Bahrami, A., Stuerner, T., Jedlicka, P., Tavosanis, G., Cuntz, H. (2020), “Achieving functional neuronal dendrite structure through sequential stochastic growth and retraction” elife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.60920 Publications2022Stuerner, T., Ferreira Castro, A., Philipps, M., Cuntz, H., Tavosanis, G (2022), “The branching code: a model of actin-driven dendrite arborisation.” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124722005101 |