Behavioral Neuroscience

We are interested in understanding the neural mechanisms underlying behavioral plasticity using a combination of behavioral, pharmacological, molecular and electrophysiological tools. We are particularly interested in studying the neural basis of memory formation. We chose to focus on fear learning, where animals learn to fear cues that are predictive of aversive events or threats. Studying fear learning presents several advantages: it is conserved across species; it entails fast robust learning and very long lasting memories; its neural circuitry is well described; it may bring insights into the neural mechanisms underlying anxiety disorders. More recently, we started studying learning and decision making in the context of social interactions. Our goal is to bridge the studies on fear learning and social behavior in an attempt to look at the fear system in all its complexities.