Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Neural circuits for reward, mood, and decision making

Our behavior is governed by basic emotions and internal states, often arising from rewards and punishments.  These states influence how we learn and make decisions.  We seek to understand how neural circuits control these fundamental mammalian behaviors.

We are currently studying how neurons that release dopamine or serotonin are involved in behavior.  These neurons make up less than one-thousandth of one percent of the neurons in our brain, yet they broadcast their signals to most of the brain.  Many disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, drug addiction, and Parkinson's disease, appear to involve dysfunction of dopaminergic or serotonergic signaling.  Surprisingly, we know little about how these neurons are involved in normal behavior.

Using cell-type-specific tools and well-controlled behavioral tasks in mice, we aim to understand the function of dopaminergic and serotonergic circuits in behavior.  We hope these basic discoveries will lead to an understanding of the biology of the brain and better treatments for disorders of the brain.