About the Lab
Our laboratory is focused on the cellular mechanisms and neural circuits regulating vulnerability to social stress. We investigate social stress using a social defeat model in Syrian hamsters called conditioned defeat. We use a variety of approaches to investigate the stress vulnerability including chemogenetics, neural tract tracing, intracranial microinjections, immunohistochemistry, Golgi-Cox staining, hormone assays, and behavioral testing. We are particularly interested in coping strategies and the neurobiological mechanisms controlling stress resilience. Our goal is to identify the mechanisms by which social experience builds stress resilience and thereby uncover novel approaches for preventing and treating stress-related mental illness. |
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