Principal Investigator
Research Projects
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Characterizing Amygdala Networks in Anxious Adolescents
Anxiety disorders emerge in adolescence and are marked by dysfunction of interconnected limbic regions, including the amygdala, pre-frontal cortex, and striatum. The amygdala has consistently been shown to be hyperactive among patients with anxiety disorders, and has connections with the pre-frontal cortex and the striatum. Certain projections from the pre-frontal cortex are thought to inhibit the amygdala, which in turn projects to the striatum to create an appropriate behavioral response to a salient stimulus. More info...
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Effects of Stress on Amygdala Development and Behavior in Adolescent Rats
Adolescence is a time of rapid social, emotional, and cognitive growth, and also a time when symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders emerge. The amygdala is a central structure involved in emotional processing and learning. Recent evidence indicates that the amygdala structure and function is influenced by stress and glucocorticoids, possibly contributing to the amygdala’s well-known dysregulation in mood and anxiety disorders. More info...
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Neural Substrates of Plasticity in the Amygdala
This project involves characterizing immature-appearing neurons in the amygdala. These cells may be of special interest in understanding structural and functional change of the amygdala that occur in human mood disorders. More info...
