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David Sastre Yague

Post-doc
Post Doc
Functional Neuroimaging
Research center
About

David's academic journey began at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, where he earned his degree in molecular neurobiology. During his studies, he spent a year at Aarhus University in Denmark, investigating social immunity mechanisms in spiders. He then pursued an MSc in Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, where he investigated how maternal immune alterations might contribute to autism in humans. Following this, David moved to Vienna, Austria, where he contributed to a large-scale fMRI study examining the effects of violent video games on brain networks. Alongside his research, he worked as an adjunct professor at Webster University, teaching Neuroscience to undergraduate students. Driven by a passion for science, David embarked on a PhD at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) and the University of Trento in Rovereto, Italy. His doctoral research focused on unraveling how neocortical excitability influences large-scale network connectivity. David is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Functional Neuroimaging Lab at IIT, under the leadership of Alessandro Gozzi. His work focuses on advancing our understanding of the neuronal mechanisms that organize and maintain the large-scale functional architecture of the mammalian brain. To achieve this, he employs cutting-edge techniques, including optogenetics, chemogenetics, fMRI, and multielectrode electrophysiology. 

Education

Title: PhD in Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Institute: UniTN / IIT
Location: Rovereto (TN)
Country: Italy
From: 2019 To: null

Title: MSc in Neuroscience
Institute: Trinity College Dublin
Location: Dublin
Country: Ireland
From: 2015 To: 2016

Title: Bachelor in Biology
Institute: Universidad Complutense Madrid
Location: Madrid
Country: Spain
From: 2007 To: 2014

All Publications
2025
Gozzi A., Stuefer A., Alvino FG., Bedin V., Cover C., Kang C., Galbusera A., Gil R., Gini S., Guzman E., Desrosiers-Grégoire G., Gutierrez-Barragan D., Mandino F., Mariani JC., Micotti E., Reimann H., Pagani M., Pepe C., Sastre-Yagüe D., Urosevic M., Valente M., Vertullo R., Canese R., Devor A., Grandjean J., Kahn I., Keiholz S., Lake E., Li N., Shemesh N., Ian Shih YY., Zerbi V., Zhang N.
Charting the path in rodent functional neuroimaging
Imaging Neuroscience
Article Journal
2025
Stuefer A., Colombo G., Gini S., Sastre-Yagüe D., Coletta L., Rocchi F., Aldrighetti M., D'Epifanio B., Como G., Balasco L., Barsotti N., Montani C., Alvino FG., Alberto G., Migliarini S., Bertozzi SM., Pasqualetti M., Bozzi Y., Cancedda L., Lombardo MV., Gozzi A.
Developmental excitation-inhibition imbalance permanently reprograms autism-relevant social brain circuits
BiorXiv
Article E-print Archive
2025
Savvateev I., Grimm C., Markicevic M., Grandjean J., Sastre D., Gozzi A., Wenderoth N., Polania R., Zerbi V.
Functional-based parcellation of the mouse prefrontal cortex for network perturbation analysis
Cell Reports
2024
Bertelsen N., Mancini G., Sastre-Yagüe D., Vitale A., Lorenz G. M., Malerba S.B., Bolis D., Martínez-Cañada P., Gozzi A., Panzeri S., Lombardo M.
Electrophysiologically-defined excitation-inhibition autism neurosubtypes
medRxiv
Article E-print Archive
2024
Sastre-Yagüe D.
Probing the mechanisms of fMRI dysconnectivity with chemogenetic-fMRI
PhD Thesis Book
Scientific Talks
2025
Sastre-Yagüe D.
Chemogenetic decoding of functional brain connectivity
BRAIN & BRAIN PET 2025
Conference
2023
Sastre-Yagüe D., Marleba S., Rocchi F., Stuefer A., Noei S., Coletta L., Grazia-Alvino F., Galbusera A., Panzeri S., Gozzi A.
Cortical excitatory-inhibitory balance critically biases brain-wide fMRI connectivity
Current Issues in Brain Function
Conference