How do experiences shape the brain?
Experiences, good or bad, often have profound effects on the way we interact and interpret our world. Our lab studies how experiences, such as exercise, drug use, or healthy aging, alter the neural circuitry that supports cognition, and ultimately cognitive health. Right now, we are interested in examining how our brains adapt to these experiences and how these adaptations in turn alter the ways in which we make decisions. To study this, we typically begin by examining the behavior of model organisms (mostly rodents) on a variety of cognitive tasks, while simultaneously measuring neural activity in various brain regions in awake and behaving animals. We then use combinations of behavioral interventions, as well as pharmacological, chemogenetic, and optogenetic strategies, to ask how these interventions, or experiences, alter the behavior and neural circuitry of our subjects. Finally, we combine molecular and structural analyses of brain tissue to help identify and characterize the contributions of individual cells and their signaling cascades to these processes.