Events

Our ability to sequence movements and actions in response to unpredictable environmental events underlies our rich and adaptive behavioral repertoire. Such flexible behaviors contrast with overtrained, or automatic, motor sequences directed at specific tasks and executed the same way every time. We probed how neural circuits underlie these distinct forms of motor sequence execution by […]

While the basolateral amygdala (BLA)  is known to be a highly stress sensitive region of the brain, there is surprisingly little understanding of the role the BLA plays in the orchestration of a stress response. The first portion of this talk will focus on the role of the BLA in regulating neuroendocrine responses to stress, […]

Emerging evidence suggests that key neurodevelopmental processes are shaped by immune and microbial signals during the prenatal period. My work is based on the premise that disruptions to these signals can alter neurodevelopmental trajectories and increase vulnerability to lifelong mental health disorders. Using a clinically translatable mouse model of maternal influenza infection, we demonstrate that […]

Synapses are the computational subunits of the brain. They allow cell-type specific forms of information flow, permit neurons to compartmentalize electrical and biochemical signals, and undergo rapid structural plasticity during experience. Although Crick suggested spine plasticity was a correlate of memory more than 40 years ago, it has been hard to understand precisely how the […]

Ever since the discovery that the degeneration of midbrain DA neurons (mDANs) projecting to the striatum underlies bradykinesia (i.e., slowness of movement) in Parkinson’s disease (PD), DA has become synonymous with motor vigor. However, the mechanisms through which DA contributes to the speed and amplitude of individual voluntary movements are still debated. Initial investigations suggested […]