Ewelina Knapska

Centre of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders (BRAINCITY); Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland

Her research integrates neurophysiology, behavioral neuroscience, and advanced neuronal activity imaging to investigate how the brain processes and transmits emotional information in social contexts. She discovered specialized neuronal populations in the amygdala responsible for the intra- and interspecies transmission of emotional states, providing fundamental insights into the biological mechanisms underlying emotional contagion and empathy. Her team also developed Eco-HAB, an innovative automated system enabling the study of complex social behaviours in mice under naturalistic conditions.

Carmen Sandi

Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) (CH)

Carmen Sandi has made seminal contributions to understanding how stress affects brain function and behavior, identifying key modulators of stress-induced neural and behavioral adaptations. Her current research focuses on how metabolism shapes the structure and function of neural circuits involved in emotion regulation, motivation, and decision-making. Using integrative approaches in rodents and humans, her work has revealed how mitochondrial processes contribute to individual differences in behavior and vulnerability to psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression.

Catherine Tallon-Baudry

Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), INSERM U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University (FR)

Prof. Catherine Tallon-Baudry’s research explores how signals from the body, particularly cardiac and gastric activity, interact with brain dynamics to shape perception of and behavior in the external world. Her work combines psychophysiological and neuroimaging methods to investigate how visceral inputs provide a reference frame for sensory and cognitive processes.