The Denardo Lab

Our brains integrate environmental cues with memories of past experiences to select appropriate behavioral responses. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a key role in analyzing the emotional significance of stimuli and promoting adaptive responses. We are particularly interested in how mPFC controls adaptive threat responding. mPFC is broadly interconnected with the limbic system, association cortices, and neuromodulatory systems, and individual mPFC connections have been linked to specific behaviors. However, little is known about the specific connectivity and function of mPFC neurons that contribute to distinct adaptive behaviors. Furthermore, mPFC undergoes a prolonged development that renders its circuitry vulnerable to genetic and environmental insults occurring early in life. As a result, mPFC dysfunction is linked to numerous psychiatric diseases including fear and anxiety disorders and depression. Yet remains it unclear how mPFC circuits develop and how their maturation can be perturbed by disease risk factors. We will address these questions using cutting-edge tools in systems- and cellular-level Neuroscience.