IPSHITA ZUTSHI

I am a systems and circuits-level neuroscientist interested in understanding how the brain builds memories and perceptions that change with fluctuating motivation and attention. 

I am currently a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of György Buzsáki at New York University School of Medicine. I completed my Ph.D. in Biological Sciences with Stefan Leutgeb at the University of California San Diego in collaboration with Byungkook Lim. 

This has been the continual theme of my research. I have focused on two brain regions known to be essential for forming new memories – the hippocampus and medial entorhinal cortex. My graduate and early postdoctoral work have revealed the importance of local and reciprocal projections between these regions and their role in generating functional firing properties. 

My long-term goal is to understand how collective neural dynamics build an internal model of the world that is flexible and adapts to fluctuating behavior goals. In my research vision, I describe my unique approach that links simultaneous brain-wide neural responses with instantaneous behavior states.

My research program will be initially supported by funding from a Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain Transition to Independence Award ($600,000 for the first 3 years of independence). I also received, but declined, a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from NIMH in 2023. I was previously funded by a Leon Levy Fellowship in Neuroscience (2019-2021), and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Student Research Fellowship (2014-2016).

I am currently applying for tenure-track faculty positions in neuroscience.

Please contact me if you have openings.