Pharmacology

Our current research interest is in in vivo imaging. Our goal is on the development new tracers for inflammation, particularly for neuroinflammation, in order to develop tools for its early detection. Also, work is conducted to characterise models of neurodegenerative disease in rodents aimed to serve as a tool for the validation of new therapeutic approach against these diseases.

My lab investigates neurobiological mechanisms underlying rapid antidepressant effects. We have recently revealed that diverse rapid-acting antidepressants evoke – after the acute pharmacological effects subside – an emergence of slow EEG activity (SWA) and concomitant regulation of plasticity-related molecular pathways (e.g. TrkB neurotrophin receptor) in adult rodents. These findings urge to focus on intrinsic homeostatic adaptations triggered within the brain in response to pharmacological or physiological “challenge” induced by rapid-acting antidepressants.

My laboratory is primarily interested in recording and manipulating neural circuits involved in organisms’ ability to adapt to an unpredictable environment. We focus on interactions between cognitive circuits (anterior cingulate cortex, ACC) and action selection and control circuits (motor cortex, basal ganglia), which occur in the context of neuromodulation by the noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC).