Psychiatry Neuroscience Research
Research on the fundamental processes controlling brain function at the molecular, genetic, and cellular levels focuses on abnormalities in various neuropsychiatric disorders. Studies investigate how alterations in genes, gene expression, signal transduction pathways, and neuroplasticity contribute to mental illness including schizophrenia, autism, depression, anxiety, and addiction.
Other research investigates brain circuit-specific pathways in the regulation of complex behavior including learning and memory, mood, and motivation.
The studies make prominent use of transgenic mouse models, viral mediated gene transfer, DNA/RNA profiling, protein biochemistry, and optogenetics. Defining aspects of the Division's research feature the integration of molecular-, cellular-, and systems-level investigation with the availability of sophisticated animal models of specific disorders.
Visit the following pages for more information about current projects:
Butler Lab
- Ryan Butler, Ph.D.
- Setting up gene methodologies (viral vectors) in animals as a neuroscience tool and potential gene therapy for rare childhood neurological disorders; interested in animal models of chronic pain
Choi Lab
- Seungwon Choi, Ph.D.
- Investigating spinal cord pathways that mediate pain and touch and how they interact with emotionally relevant brain regions to influence positive and negative moods
D’Mello Lab
- Anila D'Mello, Ph.D.
- Combining tools from cognitive neuroscience, psychiatry & developmental psychology to elucidate the brain circuits and mechanisms supporting language & cognition in humans
Epigenetic Regulation of Social Brain
- Janko Gospocic, Ph.D.
- Studying how epigenetic pathways and gene expression regulate brain plasticity in the context of social behavior and aging by working with a unique ant species
Foster Lab
- Jane Foster, Ph.D.
- Focusing on linking a person’s 30 trillion gut microbes and their propensity for mental illness
German Lab
- Dwight German, Ph.D.
- Experimenting with blood-based biomarkers for diagnostic tests in clinical care; investigating immunohistochemical disturbances in a thalamic brain region involved in essential tremor
Greene Lab
- Robert Greene, M.D., Ph.D.
- Examining functional excitatory synaptic changes across behavioral arousal states including sleep deprivation and anesthesia
Kitamura Lab
- Takashi Kitamura, Ph.D.
- Focusing on function of the hippocampus in learning and memory, studying the role of the entorhinal cortex and its circuits in modifying hippocampal function and temporal memory
Madabhushi Lab
- Ram Madabhushi, Ph.D.
- Studying the role of double stranded DNA breaks in chromatin dynamics and how this regulates gene expression involved in learning, memory, and neuropsychiatric disease (e.g., addiction)
Rodent Behavior Core Facility
- Shari Birnbaum, Ph.D., Core Director
- Working with investigators to perform a broad battery of behavioral tests in both rats and mice
Schizophrenia/Tamminga Research Lab
- Carol Tamminga, M.D.
- Focusing on biomarkers of psychotic illness from individuals with psychosis and animal models and psychosis across the life-span and analyzing biomarker databases
Shabel Lab
- Steven Shabel, Ph.D.
- Investigating the neural mechanisms of reward and punishment and their links to mental illnesses, such as depression and addiction
Yamamoto Lab
- Jun Yamamoto, Ph.D.
- Focusing on the neural dynamics for successful memory access and retrieval during episodic working memory tasks to elucidate the neural circuit mechanism in the hippocampal-cortical network
