Events

Successful pursuit of reinforcers requires the generation of predictions and evaluation of outcomes. Midbrain dopamine neurons and their projections to the striatum are thought to be critical for these processes. Here, we will consider two narratives: dopamine as a reward signal and dopamine as an error signal. Then we will examine the extent to which […]

The human brain has the remarkable capacity to transport the self into the past and future. While previously thought of as distinct functions, recent research has shown that memory for past events and imagination of future events rely on the same brain networks. In this talk, I will present neuroimaging and neuropsychological research demonstrating the […]

Understanding how the brain encodes, stores, and uses information is a central goal of neuroscience. Many neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and Alzheimer’s disease, may arise from disrupted information processing. Thus, uncovering the neural mechanisms by which information is represented in the brain is not only key to […]

Dr. Mayo will talk about studies involving animal-to-human translational work highlighting how endocannabinoid function regulates stress reactivity and fear learning, leveraging human behavioral pharmacology and neuroimaging. She will also highlight outcomes from a recent clinical trial exploring how augmenting cannabinoid function impacts clinical, behavioral, and neural measures in people with PTSD.

Natural visual processing entails a complex interplay between sensory input, behavioral context, and on-going brain dynamics. Our lab seeks to understand how these processes give rise to goal-directed visual behaviors, by exploring the neural circuits mediating ethologically relevant behaviors that laboratory mice perform, including prey capture and distance estimation. We are also implementing novel experimental […]

This talk will highlight recent efforts to generate and analyze spatially resolved molecular datasets to better understand structure–function relationships in the human brain, particularly in the context of complex brain disorders. While single-cell and single-nucleus sequencing approaches have rapidly advanced our ability to define molecularly distinct cell populations, these methods often lack the spatial and […]

Despite decades of research on the properties of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons, the precise information encoded by these cells in reward learning and motivated behavior remains uncertain. In this talk, I will describe recent work investigating two distinct modalities of the midbrain dopamine system at different levels of investigation. First, I will present […]

There is substantial individual variability in how individuals respond to stress, and a major predictor of this variance is the prior experience of stress. Here, I’ll share data showing that prior stress inflates negative valence signals in an amygdala-hypothalamic circuit and increases stress vulnerability.

How does the brain maintain stable internal representations of the world while also remaining flexible enough to learn, adapt, and predict the future?  This is a central question in systems neuroscience.  In this talk, I will present recent work from my lab that addresses this problem at both the level of network dynamics and the […]

This presentation will review the need for a precision medicine approach to opioid withdrawal and illustrate how variability in withdrawal symptom expression would inform novel treatment strategies. Differences in withdrawal presentation as a result of illicit fentanyl exposure will be reviewed and results from a randomized trial comparison of a new medication for withdrawal management […]