Psychiatry Neuroscience Research

Yingxi Lin
Yingxi Lin, Ph.D.,
Division Director

Our faculty are conducting research on the fundamental processes controlling brain function at the molecular, genetic, and cellular levels, focusing on abnormalities in various neuropsychiatric disorders. Current studies are investigating how alterations in genes, gene expression, signal transduction pathways, and neuroplasticity contribute to mental illness, including schizophrenia, autism, depression, anxiety, and addiction.

Other research is investigating 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. Click on the links for the labs below to learn more about current projects.

Dr. Ryan Butler

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
Dr. Seungwon Choi

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
Dr. Anila D'Mello

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
Dr. Jane Foster

Foster Lab

  • Jane Foster, Ph.D.
  • Focusing on linking a person’s 30 trillion gut microbes and their propensity for mental illness
Dr. Dwight German

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
Dr. Janko Gospocic

Gospocic Lab

  • 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
Dr. Robert Greene

Greene Lab

  • Robert Greene, M.D., Ph.D.
  • Examining functional excitatory synaptic changes across behavioral arousal states including sleep deprivation and anesthesia
Dr. Takashi Kitamura

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
Dr. Yingxi Lin

Lin Lab

  • Yingxi Lin, Ph.D.
  • Exploring cellular and synaptic memories encoded by experience-induced gene programs, under-standing their roles in behaviors and perturbations in neurodevelop-mental and psychiatric disorders
Dr. Ram Madabhushi

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)
Dr. Sachie Ogawa

Psychiatry Imaging Facility

Dr. Shari Birnbaum

Rodent Behavior Core Facility

Dr. Carol Tamminga

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
Dr. Steven Shabel

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
Dr. Jun Yamamoto

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