Dr. Samer Siwani, Neuroscientist · Speaker · Science Communicator
Across ten course evaluations spanning 2016–2022, students consistently described my lectures as ‘highly pedagogical,’ with exceptional clarity, structure, and pacing. One signature technique of concluding each lecture with a summarizing, applied example was repeatedly cited as transformative, helping students connect theory to practice. Overall satisfaction rose from 84% to 97%, reflecting continuous refinement based on student feedback.
About
For nearly a decade, I have studied how the brain learns, remembers, and feels. My research focuses on the circuit mechanisms connecting the hippocampus and amygdala, the brain regions at the heart of memory formation and emotional processing. Using optogenetics, viral tools, electrophysiology, and behavioral testing, I investigate how specific neuronal populations shape our experience of learning and anxiety.
But my passion extends beyond the laboratory. I believe that scientific knowledge belongs to everyone, not just those who can decode a peer-reviewed paper. Through my teaching, my writing, and my public platform, I translate the brain’s most fascinating discoveries into talks that are rigorous, engaging, and memorable.
What I Offer
Lectures and keynote talks (Examples below):
- How the Brain Learns: The Neuroscience of Memory Formation, My most acclaimed talk, refined over 25+ deliveries. Explains how the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information, and what this means for how we design learning, workplaces, and experiences.
- From Cells to Networks: How Neurons Build Intelligence, A journey from individual neurons firing to the emergence of complex cognition and behaviour.
- The Architecture of the Brain: A Guided Tour, An accessible deep-dive into neuroanatomy, adaptable for non-specialist audiences.
- Fear, Anxiety, and the Brain’s Alarm System, Based on my postdoctoral research on amygdala-hippocampus circuits, exploring how the brain processes threat and why some fears persist.
- The Unreliable Mind: Why Memories Fail and What It Means, Drawing on my published hypothesis about cognitive plasticity and the trade-offs in memory evolution.
- Custom Talks, Tailored to your organization’s industry, audience, and objectives.
Research Expertise
As an active researcher, my talks are grounded in current science, not pop psychology:
- Memory and learning circuits, OLM cells, hippocampal subregions, theta oscillations (published in Neuron and Nature Communications)
- Amygdala-hippocampus interactions, Trigger-associated anxiety mechanisms (ongoing postdoc project)
- Optogenetics, Using light to control specific brain cells during behaviour
- Electrophysiology, Recording neuronal activity and brain waves in vivo and in vitro
- Molecular biology, Viral and genetic tools for neuronal modulation
- Behavioral neuroscience, Designing and validating cognitive behavioral protocols
Track Record
Years teaching
9+
▲2016–2025 at Uppsala University
Lectures delivered
30+
▲Across 8 courses, 4 programmes
400+ hours
▲Medical, biomedical & graduate
Top-ranked moments
6×
▲Officially endorsed by student reps
My lecture on Learning and Memory has been evaluated across 10 course evaluations spanning 2016–2022, with a clear trajectory of improvement:
Languages
- Swedish, Fluent (professional, written and spoken)
- English, Fluent (professional, written and spoken)
Connect
Dr. Samer Siwani, PhD Uppsala, Sweden