My research focuses on characterizing the roles of genetically-defined striatal circuits in executive control. While the respective roles of striatal medium spiny neurons expressing either the dopamine receptors DRD1 or DRD2 have been extensively studied with respect to movement and reinforcement...

Epilepsy is an incredibly common neurological disease that will affect almost 1 in every 26 individuals. Medications fail to control seizures in nearly one-third of patients with epilepsy. The number one cause of death in patients with medically-refractory epilepsy is sudden unexpected death in...

In order for organisms to engage in goal directed thoughts and actions, appropriate cognitive representations must be activated while others are suppressed. Inhibitory Control allows us to suppress unwanted or irrelevant thoughts and actions, which is essential for maintaining attention, ignoring...

News article: "Looking for Clues at the Scene of the Crime"

Recent publications

Recent publications

Recent publications

Fillan studies the brainstem circuits responsible for autonomic and homeostatic functions. He is particularly interested in the parabrachial nucleus of the pons, and its role in wakefulness, appetite, and temperature regulation. To accomplish this, he uses cell-type-specific manipulations in rodents...

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy patients (SUDEP) is the leading cause of death in people with drug-resistant epilepsy. The mechanisms underlying SUDEP are not well understood, but evidence from animal and human studies suggest that most SUDEP is due to seizure-induced respiratory dysfunction...

Due to the lack of discovery of novel Anti-seizure medications, especially for those suffering from treatment-resistant neonatal epilepsy, our lab hopes to find novel treatments for this age group and to uncover the molecular mechanisms of said treatments. My current project consists of...