Julio Martinez-Trujillo

Research

Read how they describe their research on their Western University profile.

Electrophysiology Optogenetics Virtual Reality Hippocampus Spatial Navigation Prefrontal Cortex Working Memory Calcium Imaging

Latest papers

GABAergic interneurons in local circuits of primate prefrontal cortex.
Biological psychiatry · 2026
The physiology of mental representations: from single neurons to circuits.
Biological psychiatry · 2026 · senior author
Hypersynchronous iPSC-derived SHANK2 neuronal networks are rescued by mGluR5 agonism.
Stem cell reports · 2025

All 33 publications

Latest funding

High resolution microelectrode arrays for mapping and manipulation of brain microcircuits
NSERC · 2023 · Principal investigator
$150,000
Neural substrates of spatial navigation in the Hippocampus of the freely moving marmoset
CIHR · 2022 · Nominated PI
$967,726
Investigating brain mechanisms for social interaction and stress
CIHR · 2019 · Supervisor
$105,000

All 10 grants and awards

33 publications.

01

GABAergic interneurons in local circuits of primate prefrontal cortex.

Pommer S, Lewis DA, Krienen F, Feyerabend M, Rico B, Tripathy S, Martinez-Trujillo J, Gonzalez-Burgos G, Neef A, Staiger JF

Biological psychiatry2026

DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2026.09.012 PMID: 42785615

02

The physiology of mental representations: from single neurons to circuits.

Constantinidis C, Everling S, Treue S, Wong RK, Wang M, Yang S, Martinez-Trujillo J

Biological psychiatry2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2026.09.009 PMID: 42777932

03

Hypersynchronous iPSC-derived SHANK2 neuronal networks are rescued by mGluR5 agonism.

McCready FP, Pradeepan KS, Khaki M, Wei W, Guevara-Ferrer M, Matusiak N, Feng B, Piekna A, Martinez-Trujillo J, Ellis J

Stem cell reports2025

DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2025.102718 PMID: 41270748

04

In Search of Transcriptomic Correlates of Neuronal Firing-Rate Adaptation across Subtypes, Regions and Species: A Patch-seq Analysis.

Meng JH, Kang Y, Lai A, Feyerabend M, Inoue W, Martinez-Trujillo J, Rudy B, Wang XJ

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2025

DOI: 10.1101/2024.12.05.627057 PMID: 39713292

05

Higher dopamine D1 receptor expression in prefrontal parvalbumin neurons underlies higher distractibility in marmosets versus macaques.

Joyce MKP, Ivanov TG, Krienen FM, Mitchell JF, Ma S, Inoue W, Nandy AS, Datta D, Duque A, Arellano JI, Gupta R, Gonzalez-Burgos G, Lewis DA, Sestan N, McCarroll SA, Martinez-Trujillo J, Froudist-Walsh S, Arnsten AFT

Communications biology2025

DOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-08297-0 PMID: 40594842

06

Why do primates have view cells instead of place cells?

Martinez-Trujillo J

Trends in cognitive sciences2025First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.12.007 PMID: 39765412

07

Prefrontal cortex neuronal ensembles dynamically encode task features during associative memory and virtual navigation.

Abbass M, Corrigan B, Johnston R, Gulli R, Sachs A, Lau JC, Martinez-Trujillo J

Cell reports2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115124 PMID: 39772389

08

A mathematical language for linking fine-scale structure in spikes from hundreds to thousands of neurons with behaviour.

Busch AN, Budzinski RC, Pasini FW, Mináč J, Michaels JA, Roussy M, Gulli RA, Corrigan BW, Pruszynski JA, Martinez-Trujillo J, Muller LE

ArXiv2025

PMID: 39679273

09

Dissecting attention: Rate modulation vs. phase locking.

Esghaei M, Martinez-Trujillo J, Treue S

Neuron2024

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.06.027 PMID: 39024918

10

Primacy of vision shapes behavioral strategies and neural substrates of spatial navigation in marmoset hippocampus.

Piza DB, Corrigan BW, Gulli RA, Do Carmo S, Cuello AC, Muller L, Martinez-Trujillo J

Nature communications2024Senior author

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48374-2 PMID: 38744848

High resolution microelectrode arrays for mapping and manipulation of brain microcircuits

Principal investigatorNSERC2023Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Martinez-Trujillo, Julio

$150,000

Neural substrates of spatial navigation in the Hippocampus of the freely moving marmoset

Nominated PICIHR2022Project Grant

Principal investigators: Martinez-Trujillo, Julio C

Keywords: Calcium Imaging; Electrophysiology; Freely Moving Primates; Hippocampus; Marmoset; Spatial Navigation; Visual Tracking

$967,726

Investigating brain mechanisms for social interaction and stress

SupervisorCIHR2019Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Principal investigators: Sunstrum, Julia K

Keywords: Cortisol; Electrophysiology; Hpa Axis; Hypothalamus; Marmoset; Oxytocin; Social Interaction; Stress

$105,000

NEURONEX: The fabric of the primate neocortex and the origin of mental representations. From transcriptomics to single neurons and neuronal networks.

Nominated PICIHR2019Team Grant: Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience (NeuroNex)

Principal investigators: Martinez-Trujillo, Julio C

Keywords: Circuits; Electrophysiology; Mental Representations; Neocortex; Neurons; Neurotransmitters; Nmdar; Prefrontal Cortex; Primate; Working Memory

$625,000

Reverse engineering working memory circuits in the primate brain: Implications for the study of memory deficits.

Nominated PICIHR2018Project Grant

Principal investigators: Martinez-Trujillo, Julio C

Keywords: Electrophysiology; Non-Human Primates; Optogenetics; Virtual Reality; Working Memory

$967,725

Equipment for Neuroimaging of Virtual Stimuli and Virtual Interactions

Co-investigatorNSERC2018Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Culham, Jody

$146,517

A canonical microcircuitry for visuomotor transformations in the primate brain

Principal investigatorNSERC2017DND/NSERC Discovery Grant Supplement

Principal investigators: MartinezTrujillo, Julio

$120,000

A canonical microcircuitry for visuomotor transformations in the primate brain

Principal investigatorNSERC2017Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: MartinezTrujillo, Julio

$348,000

Probing Hippocampus function in primates using virtual reality. Implications for the study of memory deficits in humans.

Nominated PICIHR2016Project Grant

Principal investigators: Martinez-Trujillo, Julio C

Keywords: Chemogenetics; Electrophysiology; Eye Movements; Hippocampus; Memory; Optogenetics; Oscillations; Primates; Spatial Navigation; Virtual Reality

$1,032,750

Mapping the microcircuits of attention in the primate brain

Nominated PICIHR2015Operating Grant

Principal investigators: Martinez-Trujillo, Julio C

Keywords: Attention; Correlations; Decoding; Macaque Monkeys; Microelectrode Arrays; Neuronal Types; Optogenetics; Prefrontal Cortex; Single Neurons; Virtual Reality

$981,319

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Neurosciences and Mental Health
Physiology and Pharmacology
Developmental and Stem Cell Biology
Neurosciences
Physiology
Mathematics
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Other

Co-authors at Western University, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

James Ellis

Developmental and Stem Cell Biology

4 shared papers, latest 2025

Wataru Inoue

Department of Physiology and Pharmacology

3 shared papers, latest 2025

Lyle Muller

Mathematics

3 shared papers, latest 2024

Argel Aguilar Valles

Neurosciences

3 shared papers, latest 2021

Julio Martinez-Trujillo

Physiology

3 shared papers, latest 2017

Ridha Joober

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2019

Jessica Brian

Pediatrics

1 shared papers, latest 2022

Elizabeth Kelley

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2022

Shreejoy Tripathy

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Russell Schachar

Neurosciences and Mental Health

1 shared papers, latest 2022

Jennifer Crosbie

Neurosciences and Mental Health

1 shared papers, latest 2022

Stelios Georgiades

Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences

1 shared papers, latest 2022

Ridha Joober

Psychiatry

1 shared papers, latest 2019

Stefan Everling

John P. Robarts Research Institute

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Evdokia Anagnostou

Psychology

1 shared papers, latest 2022

Write to this professor

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Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their NSERC grant from 2023

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Electrophysiology Dear Professor Martinez-Trujillo, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "GABAergic interneurons in local circuits of primate prefrontal cortex." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your NSERC-funded project "High resolution microelectrode arrays for mapping and manipulation of brain microcircuits" (2023), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]