Project at a glance

Synaptic brain dysfunctions

The world is a highly complex social environment where individuals are constantly surrounded by social cues and must gather information, update predictions, and interpret the signals to respond dynamically to the social world. Individuals show significant interindividual variability in how they engage with the social world. Moreover, although deficits in social interactions characterize several psychiatric disorders, the severity of these deficits lies in a continuum that extends into typical individuals. Understanding the neuronal basis of social interaction could contribute to understanding the foundation of human society and its potential for coordination or conflict. Furthermore, it could improve our knowledge about psychiatric diseases.

In my laboratory, we use in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological techniques, in vivo calcium imaging, optogenetic approaches together with behavioral paradigms to study the neuronal mechanisms underlying social behavior in physiological conditions. Furthermore, we use genetic mouse models related to psychiatric diseases to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying social behavioral deficits.