Biographical Sketch

I received my master's degree in Biology in 1991 (Univ. of Leiden; specializations in Medical Biology and Neurobiology). Over the following 3 years I worked on growth factor-induced neural plasticity (Inst. of Neurobiology, Rome, with L. Aloe and R. Levi-Montalcini) and NMDA receptor plasticity (Univ. of Amsterdam, with W. Kamphuis and F. Lopez Da Silva). I obtained my PhD in 2000 (Univ. of Groningen), developing an animal model that implicates abnormal mediotemporal lobe (MTL) development in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, and links cognitive symptomatology to MTL pathology (with J. Korf).

In 1999, I joined the Brain and Cognition dept. at the University of Amsterdam, to further investigate the relation between MTL structure and function through neural network modelling (with J. Murre and M. Meeter). These models were, moreover, used to assess the relation between MTL abnormalities and cognitive dysfunction in several disorders, including schizophrenia, depression and amnesia.

In 2002 I left the department, to work as team leader and cognition specialist in schizophrenia drug discovery, at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D. In 2004 I returned to my present affiliation and memory research, using imaging techniques to probe the human brain.

I have been awarded several personal research grants, including a VIDI grant, and have published widely in the fields of memory, schizophrenia, neural network modelling and the role of sleep in memory reorganisation.

Research theme

The main goal of the 'Memory and Sleep' group is to understand memory processes and their neural underpinnings. We study these processes not only in the awake brain, but also during sleep. Indeed, it appears that when the brain is asleep, and relatively insensitive to external stimuli, processing of stored memories continues. Such 'offline' processing is of great importance to awake functioning.

Specific research topics

A long-time topic concerns the reorganisation of memory over time and sleep. Within this program we investigate post-encoding memory processes (e.g. consolidation, generalisation, recombination, emotional down-tuning), their neural underpinnings, and their differential dependence on sleep and wake states. Clinically oriented studies concern the characterization of memory processing deficits or sleep problems in psychological and neurological disorders. Furthermore, we investigate sleep problems as a risk factor in the aetiology of affective disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. We adopt a multi-disciplinary approach, involving experimentation supported by cutting edge electrophysiological and MRI-based techniques, as well as computational modelling, to bridge the gap between brain and behaviour.

Fundamental topics

- Mediotemporal lobe computations underlying memory function

- From episodic memories to general knowledge

- Tracing memory reactivation in the sleeping brain

- Memory implantation during sleep

- Oscillatory dynamics of the sleeping brain

- Local sleep phenomena and twilight states

- Constructive (i.e. creative) processing and problem solving during sleep

- Interplay between sleep and emotion

Clinical topics

- Role of sleep problems in PTSD and other affective disorders

- Characterising sleep abnormalities in post-traumatic stress disorder

- Are sleep problems related to maladaptive emotional memory processing?

- Are sleep problems related to maladaptive emotional regulation?

Selected publications

Roy Cox, Joram van Driel, Marieke de Boer & Lucia M Talamini. Slow oscillations during sleep coordinate interregional communication in cortical networks. J. Neurosci, 2014, 34(50):16890 –16901.

Carly C. G. Sweegers & Lucia M. Talamini. Generalization from episodic memories across time: a route for semantic knowledge acquisition. Cortex, 2014, 59C:49-61.

Roy Cox, Winni F. Hofman, Marieke de Boer & Lucia M. Talamini. (2014) Local sleep spindle modulations in relation to specific memory cues. Neuroimage, Oct;99: 103–110.

Cox R, Korjoukov I, de Boer M & Talamini LM (2014). Sound asleep: Processing and retention of slow oscillation phase-targeted stimuli. PLoS One 9(7), e101567.

Carly C.G. Sweegers, Atsuko Takashima, Guillén Fernández & Lucia M. Talamini. (2014) Neural mechanisms supporting the extraction of general knowledge across episodic memories. NeuroImage Feb 15;87:138-46.

Lucia M. Talamini, Laura F. Bringmann, Marieke de Boer & Winni F. Hofman. (2013) Sleeping worries away or worrying away sleep? Physiological evidence on sleep-emotion interactions. PLoS ONE 8(5): e62480.

Roy Cox, Winni F. Hofman & Lucia M. Talamini (2012). Involvement of spindles in memory consolidation is slow wave sleep-specific. Learn Mem. 19(7):264-7.

Lucia M. Talamini and Eva Gorree (2012). Ageing memories: differential decay of episodic memory components. Learning and Memory. Learn Mem. 19(6):239-46.

Atsuko Takashima, Ingrid Nieuwenhuis, Ole Jensen, Lucia Talamini, Mark Rijpkema, Guillen Fernandez. (2009) Shift from hippocampal to neocortical centered retrieval network with consolidation. J. Neurosci., 29(32):10087-93.

Lucia M. Talamini, Ingrid L.C. Nieuwenhuis, Atsuko Takashima and Ole Jensen. (2008) Sleep directly following learning benefits consolidation of spatial associative memory. Learning and Memory. 15(4):233-7.

Meeter M., Riedel W., Schmitt, Talamini L.M. (2006) Effects of 5-HT on memory and the hippocampus: model and data. Neuropsychopharmacology 31(4):712-20.

Lisman JE, Talamini LM, Raffone A. (2005) Recall of memory sequences by interaction of the dentate and CA3: A revised model of the phase precession. Neural Netw. 18: 1191-1201.

Talamini L.M., Meeter M., Elvevåg B., Murre J.M.J., & Goldberg T.E. (2005) Reduced parahippocampal connectivity produces schizophrenia-like memory deficits in simulated neural circuits. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 62(5):485-93.

Meeter M., Murre J.M. J. and Talamini L.M. (2004) Mode shifting between storage and recall based on novelty detection in oscillating hippocampal circuits. Hippocampus, 14, 722-41.

Talamini L.M., Meeter M. and Murre J.M.J. (2003) Combating fuzziness with computational modeling. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 26, 107-108

Talamini L.M., Ellenbroek B., Koch T. and J. Korf. (2000) Impaired sensory gating and attention in rats with developmental abnormalities of the mesocortex. Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 911, 486-495.

Selected book contributions

Hofman W.F. and Talamini L.M. Normal sleep and its neurophysiological regulation. In: Sleep Modulation By Obesity, Diabetes, Age And Diet (ed. R. Watson). Elsevier, September 2014.

Talamini L.M. and van der Werf Y. Slaap en geheugen. In: Handboek Slaap (eds. J. Verbraecken, B. Buyse, H. Hamburger, V. van Kasteel en R. van Steenwijk). Uitgeverij ACCO. In preparation.

Talamini L.M. Slapen en Breinleren. In: Breinboek voor opleiders (eds. N. Lazeron en R. van Dinteren). Bohn Stafleu van Loghum te Houten, 2010.