Dr. Isabella Wagner
Assistant Professor University of Vienna, Austria
Postdoctoral Researcher University of Vienna, Austria
PhD Donders Institute, Radboud University, Netherlands
Dr. Isabella Wagner’s journey into neuroscience began during her undergraduate studies at the University of Graz, Austria, when she attended a lecture series on cognitive neuroscience. Prior to the lecture series, she was initially inclined toward a future in clinical psychology, but she was intrigued when she learned of the legacy of famous neuroscientist Eric Kandel and his discoveries in the molecular mechanisms underlying memory. Now, as an Assistant Professor at the University of Vienna, Isabella’s journey has led her to research the influence of the gut microbiome on human cognition.
Following her interests in cognitive neuroscience, Isabella decided to pursue a master’s thesis on brain-machine interfaces after completing her undergraduate studies. Researchers at the University of Graz were doing pioneering work on the interaction between neural activity and computers in order to build high-tech prosthetics. Graz also had strong collaborative connections to the Wadsworth Center at the New York State Department of Health, where Isabella traveled abroad to do research for her master’s thesis. Encouraged by her mentors at Graz and Wadsworth, she decided to follow the next step in academia and get a PhD.
Growing up, Isabella had never imagined getting a doctorate--no one in her family had pursued a graduate education, and she hadn't considered academia as a career path. However, bolstered by the support of her research mentors, she applied and was accepted to a position in the Netherlands at the Donders Institute at Radboud University. The research environment at Donders was competitive and intimidating, but Isabella was able to learn quickly. Her doctoral research focused on the mechanisms of learning and memory. Specifically, she studied memory in the context of schemas. Schemas are pre-existing mental frameworks which help us learn new information more quickly and can help us better retain that knowledge over time. Using pattern analysis techniques in fMRI, she showed that different components of schemas are represented in neocortical regions, and when a schema is retrieved, its components are integrated in a part of the brain called the angular gyrus. She also studied memory durability and analyzed the activation patterns that differentiate memories that will be remembered long-term vs. those that eventually fade away.
After her PhD, Isabella completed one more project at Donders, which involved the use of mnemonics, or “memory tricks” that help people improve their memory performance. One of these mnemonics is the method of loci, in which you can remember items in a list by imagining placing them in various spatial locations in a familiar place. It is also called the “memory palace” method. For example, if you have a long grocery list to remember, you could imagine placing the lettuce on your entry table, maybe some olive oil on your kitchen counter, and a jar of spices on your bedroom door handle. By assigning a spatial place to each item, you can improve your memory of the list, and this technique is used to great success by memory champions in competitions all over the world.
When Isabella compared the fMRI signals of memory experts, who used the method of loci, to participants from the general population, she found large difference, with the memory experts having less activity in memory-related brain regions. However, after training in the method of loci, general participants’ brain activity decreased and started to resemble that of the experts. This surprising result indicated that learning the method of loci might make brain regions more efficient at encoding memories, requiring less activity to do the same memory work. These findings ignited Isabella’s curiosity for understanding the neural underpinnings of learning and made her want to keep using fMRI and to study memory.
When Isabella thought about the next stage in her career, she considered following in many of her colleagues’ footsteps and going to the United States. However, after living abroad for part of her master’s and her PhD, Isabella wanted to stay close to home in Austria to be near her family. She was excited to find and be accepted to a 6-year postdoctoral position at the University of Vienna—such a long-term position was a rare find. The position’s requirements were a great fit for her technical skills, but rather than studying learning and memory, her postdoc lab focused on social neuroscience. Despite the fact that the topic did not perfectly match her interests, it seemed trivial when she visited the lab. “What encouraged me to take this job was when I visited the lab in person… the atmosphere seemed amazing to me.” She knew she couldn't pass up such a great lab environment, and Isabella thrived under the supportive mentorship and happy, friendly atmosphere. She was given a lot of freedom and independence in her research, and her postdoc mentor encouraged her to pursue the idea of combining social neuroscience with her previous expertise in memory research. Specifically, Isabella became interested in how grid-like codes in the entorhinal cortex, which have mostly been studied in the context of spatial memory and navigation, could be co-opted to track the position of others in space. Her postdoctoral fMRI research supported her ideas and she ended up getting her first grant on this topic. When she completed her postdoc, Isabella had shown that her ideas could get funding and she had a strong foundation in cognitive neuroscience, so she began the search for faculty positions.
In 2021, Isabella joined the faculty at the University of Vienna, the same institution where she had been a postdoc. There, she accepted a position as an Assistant Professor with a triple appointment in the Department of Psychology, the Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, and the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science. Why three departments? She was hired to continue studying cognitive function but with a new angle: she would focus on the biological interaction between the gut microbiome and cognitive function in humans, also known as the “gut-brain axis”. This interdisciplinary research topic has foundations in each of the three departments in which Isabella was appointed. Over the last two years, Isabella has built her lab from the ground up, integrating microbiology, a brand-new field to her, into her learning and memory expertise. However, starting a new lab is demanding, and in addition to striving to meet the requirements for tenure, Isabella is also serving on committees and volunteering in administrative roles for three different departments. Although she is grateful for her career opportunities and the amazing home she has found at the University of Vienna, she is also forthcoming about the difficulties of being in such a demanding position. Isabella is not alone – women in science find themselves increasingly asked to give more of their time to administrative work in the service of diversity and gender inclusion. Although well-intentioned, these demands can be strenuous on even the most industrious early-career researchers.
Despite the challenges of being on the tenure track, Isabella finds balance by keeping active in the beautiful Austrian mountains and focusing on the parts of her job that bring her joy, especially mentorship. “I have really nice students. It’s a lot of fun,” she says. Isabella and her brilliant students are producing exciting research. Combining fMRI, spectroscopy, and genetic sequencing with cognitive testing, the Wagner lab investigates the subtle differences between participants with and without the APOE4 gene variant, a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. They link these differences in brain and behavior to the makeup of the gut microbiome to probe the relationships between Alzheimer’s susceptibility, microbes, genetics, and cognition. Isabella’s work teeters on the cutting edge of holistic approaches to neuroscience, behavior, and longevity. Perhaps someday, as she did with Eric Kandel, a student will hear about her work in a lecture and be inspired to follow in her footsteps.
Find out more about Isabella and her lab’s research here.
Listen to Margarida’s full interview with Isabella on August 23, 2023 below!
