My research interests focus broadly on the neurocircuitry of decision-making and on how early exposure to drugs of abuse, especially during adolescence, causes long term alterations in decision-making and its underlying neurocircuitry. Most individuals have their first experience with drugs (including alcohol) during adolescence, and because drugs directly alter the neurocircuitry that controls decision making and reward, drug use during this particularly vulnerable period is likely to have long term repercussions on behavior. Thus, initial drug use often occurs at one of the most vulnerable developmental periods, while simultaneously altering the trajectory of decision-making processes necessary for normal development. To study these topics, my research concentrates on the intersection of 1) behavioral paradigms of animal (rat) decision-making; 2) neurophysiology; 3) pharmacology and toxicology; 4) neurogenetics; and 5) the dynamic nature of these issues across development.
