Neurochemistry, Action and Control

We are interested in the way in which our brains are able to integrate across these multiple different types of information in order to guide appropriate decisions.  There is a particular focus on how different aspects of value are learned, represented and used to guide choice behaviour within frontal-striatal-dopaminergic circuits.  The long-term goal is to use the information gleaned about the function of these systems to better understand how the process of valuation and decision making goes awry in neuropsychiatric disorders.

The laboratory uses a range of recording and interference techniques to address these questions, including fibre photometry, fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, optogenetics and neuropharmacological manipulations.  In particular, we are keen to use combinations of techniques in order to probe communication between brain regions and causal interactions within these networks.  Our behavioural tasks are designed with an eye to ideas in disciplines such as behavioural ecology, animal learning theory and neuroeconomics as well as behavioural and cognitive neuroscience.

See lab website for more details