Haubensak Group

Survival critically depends on recognizing what is important, and initiating appropriate behavioral responses - a process modulated by emotions. Fear, for instance, associates stimuli with threat and evokes defensive behaviors; emotions associated with reward induce the opposite. Emotions are a focal aspect of our mental selves, and linked to a variety of psychological conditions. But how are emotions wired in the brain? To investigate their underlying neural basis, we use molecular, pharmacogenetic, and optogenetic methods to map neural circuits for emotional behaviors in mice. Combining these manipulations with electrophysiological methods, we explore how these circuits control emotional states, and how genes and psychoactive drugs, in turn, modulate circuit activity, emotional states and behavior.

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