We are studying the role of serotonin neurons in mediating the effects of acidosis on brain function and behavior. We have shown that serotonin neurons are exquisitely sensitive to changes in pH. They are close to large arteries in the brain and contribute to the increase in breathing induced by...

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the leading cause of death in patients with intractable epilepsy, but specific mechanisms of how a seizure can cause death are poorly understood. Research efforts in my laboratory are focused on using animal models to understand the mechanisms by which...

Homeostasis is a robust form of regulation that allows a system to maintain a constant output despite external perturbations. In the nervous system, homeostasis plays a critical role in regulating neuronal and synaptic activity. Yet the molecular basis of this form of neural plasticity is generally...

Mental illnesses such as anxiety disorder are very common but have always been challenging to study because most symptoms are subjective, qualitative, and can vary widely across different individuals. The brain is also more complex than many other organs because different regions of the brain can...

A high concentration of free ionic zinc in synaptic vesicles is a prominent feature of some of the excitatory pathways in the mammalian forebrain. Despite the wealth of information on its distribution, and role in metalloenzymes and proteins, the role of vesicular zinc remains enigmatic, and serves...

We study the neural circuits and intraneuronal signaling mechanisms that regulate appetite, body weight, sleep, and cardiorespiratory function in mice and aim to understand how these regulatory processes go awry in metabolic disorders. To this end, we employee state-of-the-art neuroscience...

My research focuses on elucidating central brain mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease, psychosocial disorders, heart failure and sudden cardiac death. The lab uses multidisciplinary approaches including radiotelemetry, optogenetics, neurophysiology, pharmacology, behavioral and molecular...

My research focuses on the cortical mechanisms subserving human language and vocalization. Major goals of the research are to understand the representation of self-vocalization stimuli in primary and associated auditory cortices, elucidate and characterize the cortico-cortical interactions between...

We are interested in how humans carry out and maintain goal-directed behaviors and how the cognitive system resolves challenges to this goal. Common examples of such challenges are unexpected events and action errors. As part of this effort, we investigate the dynamic interplay between brain...

My lab uses genetic manipulation in mice to study the effects of Acid Sensing Ion Channels (ASICs) on behavior. Because one of these channels, ASIC1, is abundant in the amygdala complex, we tested whether it plays a role in Pavlovian fear conditioning. We found that ASIC1a knockout mice have reduced...