Neural underpinnings of internally-guided cognition, including how they develop and change across the lifespan and how they become dysfunctional in clinical populations; functional MRI; default mode network
The Bhattacharya Lab studies the molecular pathways that promote axon degeneration in the context of neuronal injury and neurodegenerative disease, using both Drosophila and mouse models.
Systems biology of aging transitions leading to risk of age-related neurodegenerative diseases, sex differences in bioenergetic aging of female and male brain, regenerative therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases.
Neural circuits of animal behaviors, with a focus on understanding how the neural circuits regulate feeding and emotional behaviors, using optogenetics, pharmacogenetics, electrophysiology, molecular, and behavior analysis tools
Research focuses on 1) improving optocapacitance as a technique to photostimulate genetically unmodified neurons, by changing their membrane capacitance, in vivo and in vitro and on 2) studying the canonical and non-canonical mechanisms of coupling betwee
The emergence of complexity and increased efficiency through collective behavior; effect of scaling in complex systems; the role of learning and individual variability for collective success.
Cellular and rodent models to test novel pharmacological treatments for levodopa-induced dyskinesias, a major side effect of Parkinson’s disease treatment, as well as new neuroprotective gene and drug therapy approaches to Parkinson’s disease
Identifying circadian factors during middle age that increase risk for later-life cognitive impairment; devloping novel, light-based treatments to stem loss of cognition during aging
The mechanism by which immediate early genes mediate the effect of environment on behavior, memory, synaptic plasticity, and the risk for mental illness
The role of insufficient sleep in the development of cardiometabolic disease and neurocognitive dysfunction; social/behavioral/environmental determinants of sleep; and behavioral interventions for insufficient sleep
Wireless and battery free devices that intimately integrate with biological systems by combining innovations in soft materials photonics and electronics.
The opioid and chronic pain epidemics go hand in hand; my lab investigates the intersection between the physiology of chronic pain states, analgesic pharmacology, and overcoming the gatekeeper of CNS pharmacology- the blood brain barrier.
Studies the molecular mechanisms of opiod receptor signal transduction, with a goal of using these mechanisms to create novel drug discovery strategies that reduce the side effects of current opiod drugs
The laboratory studies pathogenic mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and molecular mechanisms essential for maintaining synaptic function and plasticity.
