Dr. Janie Ondracek

Principal Investigator

Address

AG Ondracek, Chair of Zoology
Technical University of Munich
School of Life Sciences
85354 Freising

Phone

Email

janie.ondracek[at]tum.de

Homepage

Research Topics: The neural basis of sleep and memory

We investigate the intersection of sleep, learning, and memory in non-mammalian animal modes. We use songbirds to better understand 1) how sleep manifests in non-cortical neuroarchitectures and 2) how sleep supports learning and memory during song learning.

Scientific Approach

• Neurophysiology to examine brain dynamics during sleep and learning
• Behavioral paradigms to study natural learning and auditory discrimination
• Slice electrophysiology to map large-scale brain dynamics
• Molecular and genetic tools to perturb neural circuits in real time
• Computational approaches to analyze behavior and brain state networks.

Group Members Associated with BCCN

• Wenjie Jin (PhD student)
• Ahmed Eldably (PhD student)

Related Publications

J.M. Ondracek. Understanding Sleep and Memory in the Avian Brain. (2026). Journal of Integrative Neuroscience May 9;25(5):50421.

C. Lorenz, A. Das, E.G.Z. Centeno, H. Yeganegi, R. Duvoisin, R. Ursu, A. Retailleau, N. Giret, A. Leblois, R.H.R. Hahnloser, J.M. Ondracek. (2025). Sharp waves, bursts, and coherence: Activity in a songbird vocal circuit is influenced by behavioral state. Journal of Neuroscience Sep 30:e1903242025.

H. Yeganegi and J.M. Ondracek. (2024). Local sleep in songbirds: Different simultaneous sleep states across the avian pallium. Journal of Sleep Research, e14344.

H. Yeganegi and J.M. Ondracek. (2023). Multi-channel recordings reveal age-related differences in the sleep of juvenile and adult zebra finches. Scientific Reports, 13, 8607.

M. Shein-Idelson*, J.M. Ondracek*, H.-P. Liaw, S. Reiter, and G. Laurent. (2016). Slow waves, sharp waves, ripples, and REM in sleeping dragons. Science (New York, N.Y.), 352 (6285):590.