MOLECULAR DEMENTIA AND MEMORY RESEARCH LABORATORY (ailab)

What if lost memories could be recalled? Led by Associate Professor Arne Ittner, the Molecular Dementia and Memory Research Laboratory (aiLab) studies how the brain forms lasting memories and why they fail in Alzheimer’s disease.

We aim to understand memory at the molecular level and to translate that understanding into new ways to protect, and one day restore, memory in ageing and dementia.

Our research

Memory is encoded in precise ensembles of neurons called engrams. The aiLab investigates how these memory traces form, stabilise and fail, focusing on the molecular machinery that makes long-term memory possible.

At the centre of our work is tau, a protein long associated with Alzheimer’s disease that, in healthy brains, plays a fundamental and previously unrecognised role in memory. Our research, published in Nature Communications (2026), shows that site-specific phosphorylation of tau during learning is required to recruit and stabilise engram cells; without it, memories fail to persist. By linking tau’s normal role in memory to its disruption in disease, we aim to define earlier, more tractable targets for protecting memory in ageing and neurodegeneration.

Research projects

Molecular regulation of engram formation and long-term memory
Physiological functions of tau phosphorylation in health and disease
Cellular mechanisms linking tau dysfunction to memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease
Tools to study and manipulate engram-specific processes (activity-dependent labelling, cell-type-specific manipulation, phosphorylation-state reporters)

Key Publications

Kosonen R, et al., A Ittner (2026). Tau T205 phosphorylation modulates engram cell recruitment and remote memory in mice. Nature Communications.
Stefanoska K, et al., A Ittner (2023). Remote memory engrams are controlled by encoding-specific tau phosphorylation. bioRxiv (preprint).
Prikas E, et al., A Ittner (2022). Tau target identification reveals NSF-dependent effects on AMPA receptor trafficking and memory formation. The EMBO Journal.
Stefanoska K, et al., A Ittner (2022). Alzheimer’s disease: Ablating single master site abolishes tau hyperphosphorylation. Science Advances.
Asih PR, et al., A Ittner (2022). High-level forebrain expression of active tau kinase p38γ exacerbates cognitive dysfunction in aged APP-transgenic Alzheimer’s mice. Neuroscience.
Prikas E, et al., A Ittner (2021). Interaction between the guanylate kinase domain of PSD-95 and the proline-rich region and microtubule binding repeats 2 and 3 of tau. Biochemistry and Cell Biology.
A Ittner, et al. (2020). Reduction of advanced tau-mediated memory deficits by the MAP kinase p38γ. Acta Neuropathologica.
Prikas E, Poljak A, A Ittner (2020). Mapping p38α mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling by proximity-dependent labeling. Protein Science.
A Ittner, LM Ittner (2018). Dendritic tau in Alzheimer’s disease. Neuron.
A Ittner, et al. (2016). Site-specific phosphorylation of tau inhibits amyloid-β toxicity in Alzheimer’s mice. Science.
A Ittner, et al. (2012). Regulation of PTEN activity by p38δ-PKD1 signaling in neutrophils confers inflammatory responses in the lung. The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Funders and partners

A/Prof Ittner held an NHMRC Emerging Leadership (EL2) Fellowship (2020–2024) and is a Matthew Flinders Fellow (2025).

Group members

Associate Professor Arne Ittner

Principal Investigator

Staff Profile

Yijun Lin

Research Officer

Staff Profile

Renée Kosonen

Research Officer

Staff Profile

Raina Rezaei

Casual Research Assistant

Staff Profile

Students

Dagyung Lee - Placement Student

Alumni

Kristie Stefanoska – Senior Research Fellow
Prita Riana Asih – Research Associate
Samantha Edwards – Research Associate
Emmanuel Prikas – Research Associate
Daniel W. Thorpe – Research Associate
Josefine Bertz – Research Officer
Holly I. Ahel – Research Assistant
Manisha Singh – Research Assistant
Amanda Rui Ping Tan – Research Assistant
Phaedra Spencer-Merris – PhD Student
Toan Nguyen – PhD Student
Alexander Volkerling – PhD Student
Stephanie Ubiparipovic – Honours Student

Work with us

We welcome motivated students and researchers interested in tau biology, engram science and Alzheimer’s disease.

Honours & placement projects: available on an individual basis.
PhD students: applicants are generally expected to secure a scholarship (e.g. a university scholarship or equivalent); occasional grant-funded positions are advertised.
Positions are advertised on the Flinders University website as they become available.