The translation gap in biomedical research can be attributed in part to differences in how outcomes are assessed in preclinical research and in the clinic. Reasons for these mismatches includ...
There is a growing debate about the usefulness of animal studies in biomedical research and drug development. Some of the challenges in translation from animals to human patients may be from...
Conspecific aggression is a common problem amongst laboratory housed male mice. While C57BL/6 are not the most aggressive strain we house, they are exceedingly common, and dealing with...
DATE: November 15, 2017TIME: 10:00AM PTInteractions between tumor and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) play a key role in tumor progression and treatment response, with...
DATE: June 8, 2017TIME: 10:00AM PDT, 1:00PM EDT, 7:00PM CESTAlzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the result of complex interactions between risk factors that cause pleiotropic changes in m...
Studying the genetics of rare congenital disorders disrupting cognitive function has led to the identification of multiple disease genes that helped us better understand the mechanisms underl...
Alterations in homeostatic functions such as energy balance and sleep patterns are frequently seen in the elderly and these changes may precede and predict subsequent cognitive decline. ...
As we experience our environments, our brains are constantly computing inferences about the most likely state of the world: Are those lights in the distance headlights or streetlights? ...
A fundamental challenge in developing brain machine interfaces (BMIs) is building a decoder between patterns of brain activity and movement in patients with spinal cord injury, ALS, and amput...
Working memory ability matures late in life, in adolescence or early adulthood, and may be enhanced even in adulthood through cognitive training. The mechanisms through which working memory i...
Basal forebrain cholinergic inputs to the cortex are known to contribute to attentional performance. A major focus of my laboratory has been to study the receptors mediating the effects of ac...
The idea of schizophrenia typically conjures up images of people who hear voices, see visions and have delusional beliefs. However, clinicians have long recognized cognitive dysfunction as on...
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by the loss of dopamine and the disruption of brain circuits (basal ganglia and cortex) that are responsible for normal cognitive and motor per...
Our decisions are governed by a balance between prospective instrumental goal-oriented and retrospective habitual learning strategies. This arbitration is relevant dimensionally across psychi...
Maturing neural circuits are dramatically shaped by the environment, but this timing varies across brain regions and plasticity declines with age. Focusing on cellular/molecular mechanisms un...
Drug addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug use despite catastrophic personal consequences (e.g., loss of family, job) and even when the substance is n...
There is a growing appreciation of the relationship between gut microbiota, and the host in maintaining homeostasis in health and predisposing to disease. Bacterial colonisation of the gut pl...
Schizophrenia (Sz) is a major mental disorder that affects ~1% of the population. Although traditional models of Sz focused on dopaminergic dysfunction, newer models increasingly implic...
Impulse control disorders (ICDs), also known as behavioural addictions, are common in the general population and can have marked consequences. ICDs can also commonly occur with exposure...
We routinely face decisions requiring evaluation and choice of different actions may or may not yield different types of rewards. These situations trigger competitive decision biases that ref...
The environment has been found to be a major contributor to data variability and many aspects of the laboratory environment are stressful to rodents and do not accurately reflect the human ex...
DATE: October 28th, 2015TIME: 11am Pacific time, 2pm Eastern timeNew discoveries uncover that exposure to current environmental, dietary, behavioral, and medical conditions can significantly...
Behaviors are motivated by two emotional valences: Seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. The ability to select appropriate behavioral responses to environmental stimuli, such as avoiding a pred...
There is growing interest internationally in elucidating the clinical and biological profile of those at high genetic risk to bipolar disorder (BD) so as to enable the development of targeted...
The translation gap in biomedical research can be attributed in part to differences in how outcomes are assessed in preclinical research and in the clinic. Reasons for these mismatches includ...
There is a growing debate about the usefulness of animal studies in biomedical research and drug development. Some of the challenges in translation from animals to human patients may be from...
Conspecific aggression is a common problem amongst laboratory housed male mice. While C57BL/6 are not the most aggressive strain we house, they are exceedingly common, and dealing with...
DATE: November 15, 2017TIME: 10:00AM PTInteractions between tumor and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) play a key role in tumor progression and treatment response, with...
DATE: June 8, 2017TIME: 10:00AM PDT, 1:00PM EDT, 7:00PM CESTAlzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the result of complex interactions between risk factors that cause pleiotropic changes in m...
Studying the genetics of rare congenital disorders disrupting cognitive function has led to the identification of multiple disease genes that helped us better understand the mechanisms underl...
Alterations in homeostatic functions such as energy balance and sleep patterns are frequently seen in the elderly and these changes may precede and predict subsequent cognitive decline. ...
As we experience our environments, our brains are constantly computing inferences about the most likely state of the world: Are those lights in the distance headlights or streetlights? ...
A fundamental challenge in developing brain machine interfaces (BMIs) is building a decoder between patterns of brain activity and movement in patients with spinal cord injury, ALS, and amput...
Working memory ability matures late in life, in adolescence or early adulthood, and may be enhanced even in adulthood through cognitive training. The mechanisms through which working memory i...
Basal forebrain cholinergic inputs to the cortex are known to contribute to attentional performance. A major focus of my laboratory has been to study the receptors mediating the effects of ac...
The idea of schizophrenia typically conjures up images of people who hear voices, see visions and have delusional beliefs. However, clinicians have long recognized cognitive dysfunction as on...
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by the loss of dopamine and the disruption of brain circuits (basal ganglia and cortex) that are responsible for normal cognitive and motor per...
Our decisions are governed by a balance between prospective instrumental goal-oriented and retrospective habitual learning strategies. This arbitration is relevant dimensionally across psychi...
Maturing neural circuits are dramatically shaped by the environment, but this timing varies across brain regions and plasticity declines with age. Focusing on cellular/molecular mechanisms un...
Drug addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug use despite catastrophic personal consequences (e.g., loss of family, job) and even when the substance is n...
There is a growing appreciation of the relationship between gut microbiota, and the host in maintaining homeostasis in health and predisposing to disease. Bacterial colonisation of the gut pl...
Schizophrenia (Sz) is a major mental disorder that affects ~1% of the population. Although traditional models of Sz focused on dopaminergic dysfunction, newer models increasingly implic...
Impulse control disorders (ICDs), also known as behavioural addictions, are common in the general population and can have marked consequences. ICDs can also commonly occur with exposure...
We routinely face decisions requiring evaluation and choice of different actions may or may not yield different types of rewards. These situations trigger competitive decision biases that ref...
The environment has been found to be a major contributor to data variability and many aspects of the laboratory environment are stressful to rodents and do not accurately reflect the human ex...
DATE: October 28th, 2015TIME: 11am Pacific time, 2pm Eastern timeNew discoveries uncover that exposure to current environmental, dietary, behavioral, and medical conditions can significantly...
Behaviors are motivated by two emotional valences: Seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. The ability to select appropriate behavioral responses to environmental stimuli, such as avoiding a pred...
There is growing interest internationally in elucidating the clinical and biological profile of those at high genetic risk to bipolar disorder (BD) so as to enable the development of targeted...