Laboratory of Neuroeconomics

Profile

Dr Alicja Puścian
email: a.puscian@cent.uw.edu.pl
phone: +48 22 55 43xxx
office: 02.41
ORCID: 0000-0002-7029-1275
SCOPUS ID: 56147430400

The aim of the Laboratory of Neuroeconomics is to connect cutting-edge circuit-level neuroscience with human experimentation. It aims at understanding how social mechanisms shape the choices we make. This is where neuroscience meets behavioral economics, and theory meets practice. The lab pioneers novel approaches to analyzing social decision-making, combining real-time brain imaging, immersive virtual environments, and advanced animal behavioral studies in automated systems such as Eco-HAB®. The goal is not only to understand the brain in action, but to create tools that help anticipate and support decision-making in the real world.

Leader

Dr. Alicja (Alka) Puścian is a Polish neuroscientist, science communicator, and social activist. Her research explores the intricate relationship between the brain and behavior, with a focus on motivation, emotions, and the social influences on decision-making. Her interdisciplinary approach combines life sciences, behavior analysis, and advanced computational methods. During her graduate studies, she designed and co-patented “Eco-HAB,” a system for naturalistic assessment of social behavior in laboratory animals, now widely used across Europe and North America.

Dr. Puścian has gained international research experience in Switzerland, Japan, and the United States. She was distinguished with the Brown-Coxe Award for her postdoctoral project at Yale University. Her work on neural plasticity and its deficits in disorders such as autism and depression has been published in leading journals, including Science Advances, Molecular Psychiatry, and Cell Reports. She is a recipient of the Young Scientist of the Year Awards from both the Polish Society for Neuroscience and the European Brain and Behavior Society, as well as recognition from the Central European BioForum, highlighting her applicational contributions. In 2023, she received the Fulbright STEM Impact Award for her innovative work in Neuroeconomics at Duke University, a project she has been continuing in Poland.

Throughout her career, Dr. Puścian has been a strong advocate for equality and mentoring. She co-founded and led numerous organizations, including the PhD Students Council of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Professional Development Committee of the Yale Postdoctoral Association, and Women in Science at both Yale and the Nencki Institute. She also served as a biology educator for Khan Academy Poland. Currently, she is a member of the Global Diversity Committee of the ALBA Network and an Ambassador for the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission.

Team

Leader
Alicja Puścian

Postdocs / Researchers
soon

PhD students
soon

Selected projects

Selected publications

First and/or corresponding (*) authorship:

• Winiarski M., Madecka A., Yadav A., Borowska J., Wołyniak M.R., Jędrzejewska-Szmek J., Kondrakiewicz L., Mankiewicz L., Chaturvedi M., Wójcik D.K., Turzyński K., Puścian A., Knapska E.
  Information sharing within a social network is key to behavioral flexibility—Lessons from mice tested under seminaturalistic conditions
  (2025) Science Advances , 11 (1), art. no. eadm7255
  DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adm7255
• Puścian A., Winiarski M., Borowska J., Łęski S., Górkiewicz T., Chaturvedi M., Nowicka K., Wołyniak M., Chmielewska J.J., Nikolaev T., Meyza K., Dziembowska M., Kaczmarek L., Knapska E.
  Targeted therapy of cognitive deficits in fragile X syndrome
  (2022) Molecular Psychiatry, 27 (6), pp. 2766 – 2776
  DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01527-5
• Puścian A., Bryksa A., Kondrakiewicz L., Kostecki M., Winiarski M., Knapska E.
  Ability to share emotions of others as a foundation of social learning
  (2022) Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 132, pp. 23 – 36
  DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.022
• Puścian A., Winiarski M., Łęski S., Charzewski Ł., Nikolaev T., Borowska J., Dzik J.M., Bijata M., Lipp H.-P., Dziembowska M., Knapska E.
  Chronic fluoxetine treatment impairs motivation and reward learning by affecting neuronal plasticity in the central amygdala
  (2021) British Journal of Pharmacology, 178 (3), pp. 672 – 688
  DOI: 10.1111/bph.15319
• Puścian A., Benisty H., Higley M.J.
  NMDAR-Dependent Emergence of Behavioral Representation in Primary Visual Cortex
  (2020) Cell Reports, 32 (4), art. no. 107970
  DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107970
• Puścian A., Łęski S., Kasprowicz G., Winiarski M., Borowska J., Nikolaev T., Boguszewski P.M., Lipp H.-P., Knapska E.
  Eco-HAB as a fully automated and ecologically relevant assessment of social impairments in mouse models of autism
  (2016) eLife, 5 (OCTOBER2016), art. no. e19532
  DOI: 10.7554/eLife.19532
• Puścian A., Łeski S., Górkiewicz T., Meyza K., Lipp H.-P., Knapska E.
  A novel automated behavioral test battery assessing cognitive rigidity in two genetic mouse models of autism
  (2014) Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8 (APR), art. no. 140
  DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00140
• Puścian A., Knapska E.
  IntelliCages and automated assessment of learning in group-housed mice
  (2014) Proceedings of SPIE – The International Society for Optical Engineering, 9290, art. no. 929022
  DOI: 10.1117/12.2075266

• Rydzanicz M., Kuzniewska B., Magnowska M., Wójtowicz T., Stawikowska A., Hojka A., Borsuk E., Meyza K., Gewartowska O., Gruchota J., Miłek J., Wardaszka P., Chojnicka I., Kondrakiewicz L., Dymkowska D., Puścian A., Knapska E., Dziembowski A., Płoski R., Dziembowska M.
  Mutation in the mitochondrial chaperone TRAP1 leads to autism with more severe symptoms in males
  (2024) EMBO Molecular Medicine, 16 (11), pp. 2976 – 3004
  DOI: 10.1038/s44321-024-00147-6
• Chen X., Winiarski M., Puścian A., Knapska E., Walczak A.M., Mora T.
  Generalized Glauber Dynamics for Inference in Biology
  (2023) Physical Review X, 13 (4), art. no. 041053
  DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.13.041053
• Dzik J.M., Puścian A., Mijakowska Z., Radwanska K., Łęski S.
  PyMICE: A Python library for analysis of IntelliCage data
  (2018) Behavior Research Methods, 50 (2), pp. 804 – 815
  DOI: 10.3758/s13428-017-0907-5

Contact

Dr Alicja Puścian
email: a.puscian@cent.uw.edu.pl
phone: +48 22 55 43xxx
office: 02.41