We use mice as a model to investigate the neurophysiological basis of substance-use disorders and chronic stress disorders. Behaviors include:

• models of learning and decision making

• substance/social self administration

• acute and chronic drug exposure paradigms

• chronic social defeat stress

• appetitive and aversive Pavlovian conditioning

In order to understand how regulators of cellular excitability contribute to cell and circuit function, we use complementary ex vivo and in vivo methods . These include:

• ex vivo electrophysiology

• ex vivo 2-photon imaging

• fiber photometry

• in vivo electrophysiology

We use diverse methods to help identify causal neurophysiological phenotypes. We are also implementing wireless approaches to capture more naturalistic behaviors. Techniques include:

• pharmacology

• optogenetics

• chemogenetics

We use molecular approaches to determine and edit the genes regulating cellular physiology and behavior. These include:

• viral-based and cell-specific CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technologies in vivo

• Ribotag-qPCR

• RNA-sequencing

• Epigenetic analysis