Department of Neuroscience
Irina Sinakevitch's scientific career began at age 14 when she was admitted to the Academic High Preparatory School of Leningrad State University. She earned a Bachelor of Science in physics and mathematics in 1981. Continuing her studies at the university, she graduated with a Master of Science in biophysics in 1988. She earned her doctorate, with honors, in neuroscience from the University of Angers, France, in 1995.
Since 1997 Sinakevitch has worked internationally in multiple laboratories learning the foremost techniques in neuroanatomy, electrophysiology and molecular biology. Her research explores the functions of neuromodulation and neurotransmitter systems, as well as their relationships to visual and olfactory learning. She has contributed through comparative study a structural understanding of the learning and memory centers in invertebrates and vertebrates (humans included).
From the beginning of 2020, Sinakevitch has been working in the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Arizona in collaboration with neuroscientists who study the process of aging in the brain. She also collaborates with computational scientists to unravel the fundamental mechanisms that underlie brain activity and function during aging.
The mushroom bodies of Drosophila melanogaster: an immunocytological and golgi study of Kenyon cell organization in the calyces and lobes.
Microscopy research and technique Oct, 2003 | Pubmed ID: 12966500
Chemical neuroanatomy of the fly's movement detection pathway.
The Journal of comparative neurology Jan, 2004 | Pubmed ID: 14648688
Octopamine-like immunoreactivity in the honey bee and cockroach: comparable organization in the brain and subesophageal ganglion.
The Journal of comparative neurology Aug, 2005 | Pubmed ID: 15952163
Comparison of octopamine-like immunoreactivity in the brains of the fruit fly and blow fly.
The Journal of comparative neurology Jan, 2006 | Pubmed ID: 16320256
Organization of local interneurons in optic glomeruli of the dipterous visual system and comparisons with the antennal lobes.
Developmental neurobiology Sep, 2007 | Pubmed ID: 17638381
Development and evolution of the insect mushroom bodies: towards the understanding of conserved developmental mechanisms in a higher brain center.
Arthropod structure & development Aug, 2003 | Pubmed ID: 18088997
Global and local modulatory supply to the mushroom bodies of the moth Spodoptera littoralis.
Arthropod structure & development Jul, 2008 | Pubmed ID: 18406668
Ground plan of the insect mushroom body: functional and evolutionary implications.
The Journal of comparative neurology Mar, 2009 | Pubmed ID: 19152379
Dynamics of glutamatergic signaling in the mushroom body of young adult Drosophila.
Neural development Apr, 2010 | Pubmed ID: 20370889