Ivan Alekseichuk
ABOUT
I am a cognitive neuroengineer with interest in the mental functions and brain electrophysiology. My research strives to reveal how electrical communications between the neurons encode our cognition and emotions and how we can decode these signals. My engineering focus is on developing personalized and closed-loop non-invasive brain stimulation techniques capable of supporting human cognitive functions and mental health.
Cognition remains one of the biggest mysteries of modern science, while mental dysfunctions present the growing challenge for society. My scientific goal is to advance the mechanistic understanding of the electric communications in the brain and how they form our behavior. For that, I adapt the "read-write" approach to brain functions with the technological emphasis on the non-invasive electrophysiology and neuromodulation.
Human memory and mood regulation are in the focus of my cognitive research. I investigate how the functional connectivity in the brain organizes the formation and retrievals of memory engram and the neural dynamics of emotional regulation in healthy adults and depressive disorders. My experimental work stands on the methodological combination of 1. electroencephalography (EEG, sEEG/ECoG) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with 2. model-driven transcranial electric stimulation (TACS, TDCS) and 3. computational cognitive assessment.
RESEARCH
This combination enables me to monitor the neural activity, modulate its state in a personalized manner, and quantify causal changes in behavior. The results can inform the fundamental neuroscientific theories of cognition as well as facilitate new clinical approaches in memory impairments and mood disorders. Here are some highlights:
In parallel goes my interest in novel theoretically-sound methods of transcranial brain stimulation. From one side, this work requires a fundamental biomedical look at the mechanisms of action and, thus, experiments in laboratory animals and surgical patients. From another, I use a wide array of neural engineering skills to computationally predict and calibrate the effects of transcranial brain stimulation (TMS, TACS, TDCS) using realistic finite element method (FEM) modeling and multi-dimensional optimization tools.
Finally, I develop real-time closed-loop and personalized brain stimulation systems to account for individual brain dynamics. Studies in physics and physiology of transcranial brain stimulation can improve the utility and practical value of the methods within the precision medicine philosophy.
BIO
2019 - ...
Research Scientist
Opitz lab, Dept of Biomedical Engineering, College of Science and Engineering
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN, USA
2018 - 19
POSITIONS
Postdoctoral Associate
Opitz Lab, Dept of Biomedical Engineering, College of Science and Engineering
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN, USA
2017
Postdoctoral Associate
Paulus Lab, Dept of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Medical Center
University of Göttingen
Göttingen, Germany
2017
EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Systems Neuroscience
Göttingen Graduate School for Neurosciences, Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences
University of Göttingen
Göttingen, Germany
2013
Master in Neurobiology and Psychophysiology
Dept of Higher Nervous Activity and Psychophysiology, Faculty of Biology
Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg, Russia
2011
Specialist in Biology and Chemistry
Faculty of Natural Sciences
Belarusian State Pedagogical University
Minsk, Belarus
