Neurobiological Bases of Learning and Memory and Links to Psychoanalysis

Cristina Alberini received her PhD in Immunological Sciences from the University of Genoa (Italy), and then trained in neurobiology as a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University with Eric Kandel. From 1997 to 2000, she served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Brown University, and then as an Associate and Full Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York from 2001 to 2011. In 2011, she joined the Center for Neural Science at New York University, where she is currently a Professor of Neuroscience. Alberini’s research focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying long-term memory formation and strengthening, as well as the role of these mechanisms in cognitive impairments, neurodevelopmental disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. Her studies focus on various ages of the lifespan and different types of brain cells. Alberini’s research identified new mechanisms of early childhood learning and memory, offering a novel perspective on the developmental processes of learning and memory systems. Her work also provided information for improving brain functions and developing potential therapeutics for cognitive impairments and psychopathologies. Alberini underwent psychoanalytic training from 2002 to 2012 at NPAP in New York and received a New York State license in 2013. Alberini received several awards, including the Hirschl-Weill Career Scientist Award, NARSAD Independent Investigator Award, Golgi Medal, Athena Award, NIH-MERIT Award, the 2018 Jacob K. Javits NYU Award, and the NYU Julius Silver, Roslyn S. Silver & Enid Silver Winslow professorship. Prof. Alberini is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Maggie Zellner, Ph.D., L.P., is a neuropsychoanalytic educator and psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City. She is the Executive Director of the Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation in New York, and former Managing Editor of the journal Neuropsychoanalysis. Maggie received her Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in the Neuropsychology Sub-program at Queens College. She is a founding member of the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society, and a graduate and member of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (NPAP) in New York. Maggie has taught neuroscience to the psychoanalytically-minded since 2003.