Integrative Neural Systems Lab
Location and Contact Information
Principal Investigator
Research Focus and Approach
The Integrative Neural Systems Lab studies mouse models of genetic risk for mental illness from an integrative neuroscience perspective with a focus on understanding how a given disease mutation leads to a behavioral phenotype. To this end, the lab employs a range of systems neuroscience techniques, including in vivo anesthetized and awake behaving recording, neuroanatomical tracing, and pharmaco- and optogenetics. Current efforts are focused on two main related areas:
- Schizophrenia
- Working Memory
Current and Ongoing Research
Past work has established the importance of oscillatory synchrony between the ventral hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex in working memory function, and that disruption in this circuit contributes to working memory deficits in a genetic model of schizophrenia predisposition. Current projects include:
- Exploring the role of specific interneuronal subtypes in neural synchrony and neural representations during working memory
- Studying the interactions between stress and genetic predisposition in the development of cognitive dysfunction.