Staff profile

Overview

I study the neuronal mechanisms underlying cognition and emotion, in particular in relation to activity in amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. I am also interested in how these circuits and processes are modulated by neuromodulators such as serotonin and psychedelics. Please see my group webpage for further information and opportunities for joining the lab.

Bio

I graduated in Biotechnology (BSc) in 2008 and Neurobiology (MSc) in 2011 at the University of Pavia, in Italy. Before starting my PhD, I worked as Research Assistant in Michael Hausser's Neural Computation lab at UCL (2010-2012). I then carried out my PhD at the University of Oxford with Marco Capogna, studying serotonin and the neural circuits of the amygdala, and their involvement in aversive learning. After the completion of my PhD (2016), I stayed at the University of Oxford for a brief postdoc with Peter Somogyi, studying the neuromodulation of mouse and human neural circuits. In 2017, I started a postdoc in Rosa Cossart's lab at INSERM in Marseille, France. I studied how developmental programs and inhibitory circuits control hippocampal physiology and learning-relevant neural mechanisms. In 2021, I moved back to the UK to carry out a postdoc with Andy Jackson and Abhishek Banerjee at Newcastle University to use closed-loop optical and electrophysiological tools to correct pathological network dynamics. I took up a position of Assistant Professor at Durham University in 2022.

Esteem indicators

Awards

• Springboard Award, Academy of Medical Sciences (2024)
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (2017)
• Fédération de la Recherche Médicale Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017)
• Fyssen Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (2016)
• Paton Prize, University of Oxford (2014)
• Gotch Memorial Prize, University of Oxford (2013)

Reviewer and editorial roles

• Reviewer for the following peer-reviewed journals: Neuroscience, Journal of Physiology, Neuron, Neuroscience Bulletin, Journal of Neurophysiology, European Journal of Neuroscience, Molecular Psychiatry
• Reviewing Editor for: Frontiers in Neural Circuits
• Reviewer for the following funding bodies: BBSRC

Research groups

Cognitive Neuroscience

Learning, memory & cognition

• Neural mechanisms of learning and memory
• Neural circuit organisation
• Neural plasticity
• Neuromodulators (in particular serotonin)
• Psychedelics

Journal Article

• Leprince, E., Dard, R. F., Mortet, S., Filippi, C., Giorgi-Kurz, M., Bourboulou, R., …Cossart, R. (2023). Extrinsic control of the early postnatal CA1 hippocampal circuits. Neuron, 111(6), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.12.013
• Cavalieri, D., Angelova, A., Islah, A., Lopez, C., Bocchio, M., Bollmann, Y., …Cossart, R. (2021). CA1 pyramidal cell diversity is rooted in the time of neurogenesis. eLife, 10, https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.69270
• Bocchio, M., Gouny, C., Angulo-Garcia, D., Toulat, T., Tressard, T., Quiroli, E., …Cossart, R. (2020). Hippocampal hub neurons maintain distinct connectivity throughout their lifetime. Nature Communications, 11(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18432-6
• Bocchio, M., Lukacs, I. P., Stacey, R., Plaha, P., Apostolopoulos, V., Livermore, L., …Capogna, M. (2019). Group II Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors Mediate Presynaptic Inhibition of Excitatory Transmission in Pyramidal Neurons of the Human Cerebral Cortex. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 12, https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2018.00508
• Sengupta, A., Bocchio, M., Bannerman, D. M., Sharp, T., & Capogna, M. (2017). Control of Amygdala Circuits by 5-HT Neurons via 5-HT and Glutamate Cotransmission. Journal of Neuroscience, 37(7), https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2238-16.2016
• Bocchio, M., Nabavi, S., & Capogna, M. (2017). Synaptic Plasticity, Engrams, and Network Oscillations in Amygdala Circuits for Storage and Retrieval of Emotional Memories. Neuron, 94(4), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.03.022
• Bocchio, M., McHugh, S. B., Bannerman, D. M., Sharp, T., & Capogna, M. (2016). Serotonin, Amygdala and Fear: Assembling the Puzzle. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 10, https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2016.00024
• Bocchio, M., Fisher, S. P., Unal, G., Ellender, T. J., Vyazovskiy, V. V., & Capogna, M. (2016). Sleep and Serotonin Modulate Paracapsular Nitric Oxide Synthase Expressing Neurons of the Amygdala. eNeuro, 3(5), ENEURO.0177-16.2016. https://doi.org/10.1523/eneuro.0177-16.2016
• Bazelot, M., Bocchio, M., Kasugai, Y., Fischer, D., Dodson, P., Ferraguti, F., & Capogna, M. (2015). Hippocampal Theta Input to the Amygdala Shapes Feedforward Inhibition to Gate Heterosynaptic Plasticity. Neuron, 87(6), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.08.024
• Bocchio, M., Fucsina, G., Oikonomidis, L., McHugh, S. B., Bannerman, D. M., Sharp, T., & Capogna, M. (2015). Increased Serotonin Transporter Expression Reduces Fear and Recruitment of Parvalbumin Interneurons of the Amygdala. Neuropsychopharmacology, 40(13), https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.157
• Bocchio, M., & Capogna, M. (2014). Oscillatory Substrates of Fear and Safety. Neuron, 83(4), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2014.08.014