Dr. Belger's research focuses on studies of the cortical circuits underlying attention and executive function in the human brain, as well as the breakdown in these functions in neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopment disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. Her research also examines changes in cortical circuits and their physiological properties in individuals at high risk for psychotic disorders. Dr. Belger combines functional magnetic resonance imaging, electrophysiological scalp recording, experimental psychology and neuropsychological assessment techniques to explore the behavioral and neurophysiological dimensions of higher order executive functions. Her most recent research projects have begun focusing on electrophysiological abnormalities in young autistic children and individuals at high risk for schizophrenia.
My lab uses a cognitive neuroscience approach to understand the neurobiology of drug addiction in humans. The tools we use include fMRI, cognitive testing, physiological monitoring, pharmacology, and genetic testing. We specifically seek to determine 1) how the brain learns new stimulus-response associations and replaces learned associations, 2) the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the tendency to select immediate over delayed rewards, and 3) the neural bases of addiction-related attentional bias.
This multidisciplinary laboratory has 6 interests: 1) Defining regionally specific adaptations responsible for functions altered by chronic ethanol; 2) Characterizing regional CNS biochemical changes induced by stress and CRF after chronic ethanol; 3) Defining the role of central cytokines in behaviors induced by stress; 4) Exploring how a benzodiazepine (BZD) agonist shares actions with a BZD antagonist; 5) Defining TRH receptor subtype(s) responsible for its anti-anxiety and analeptic actions; and 6) Defining the action of galanin on ethanol withdrawal-induced anxiety. To undertake our interests, behavioral, anatomical, pharmacological, electrophysiological, biochemical, and molecular biological approaches are used.
Research in the Carelli laboratory is in the area of behavioral neuroscience. Our studies focus on the neurobiological basis of motivated behaviors, including drug addiction. Electrophysiology and electrochemistry procedures are used during behavior to examine the role of the brain 'reward' circuit in natural (e.g., food) versus drug (e.g., cocaine) reward. Studies incorporate classical and operant conditioning procedures to study the role of the nucleus accumbens (and dopamine) and associated brain regions in learning and memory, as they relate to motivated behaviors.
Research in the lab is focused on four major areas - (1) Genetic, cellular, and genomic analyses of Drosophila CNS development, (2) Brain development and behavior, (3) Molecular genetics of gene regulatory pathways, and (4) Control of cell migration and fusion events.
The study of opioid analgesics, with particular focus on opioids that are less likely to produce physical dependence and abuse. Research in the laboratory has examined the relationship between the analgesic effects of opioid analgesics and their interaction with specific opioid receptor types. A more recent research interest includes investigations of genetically-altered mice with relevance to drug dependence and the development of models of mouse behavior for examining behavioral phenotypes related to a range of behavioral disorders.
The role of associative learning and memory in cue-induced relapse to drug seeking and the role of the prefrontal cortex in suppression of drug seeking. Studies in my laboratory utilize surgical, behavioral, and histological techniques as well as neuropharmacological manipulations.
Effects of drugs of abuse on maternal behavior and aggression and the effects of prenatal exposure to drugs on offspring development and behavior. Approaches range from molecular to behavioral as our work is basic science with a clinically applicable focus.
Physiology and pharmacology of the basal ganglia; neurobiology of motivation and reward; substance abuse neurobiology; and neurobehavioral teratology.
My laboratory studies the function of neural circuitry involved in the perception of reward and the reinforcement of motivated behaviors in several mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders, including early developmental exposure to drugs of abuse, such as alcohol or cocaine; and genetic models relevant to the study of autism, such as inactivation of the Fmr1 (Fragile-X Mental Retardation) or MeCP2 (Methyl-CpG Binding Protein) genes. My laboratory employs techniques in behavioral pharmacology, including intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS); in vitro patch-clamp electrophysiology in acute brain slices; and immunohistochemistry with unbiased stereological microscopy.
The nucleus accumbens is a limbic-motor integrator, assimilating memory and drive input and coordinating responsive behavioral output. Anatomical and pharmacological evidence indicates that the core and shell subregions of the nucleus accumbens perform overlapping but distinct roles in motivated behavior. My experiments examine nucleus accumbens core and shell function during ethanol drinking behavior in rats, with particular focus on how dopamine input modulates accumbal activity on the millisecond timescale. I use two approaches: electrophysiological firing patterns of neurons in the nucleus accumbens core and shell are evaluated using multi-electrode arrays, and phasic (subsecond) dopamine activity is evaluated using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. I am also interested in exploring the pharmacological manipulation of neuronal transmission in the nucleus accumbens, focusing on drugs that have clinical therapeutic value in treating alcoholism.
The primary research projects in my lab span topics from evolutionary genetics to behavioral ecology. Prior, current and future projects of mine focus on theoretical studies of speciation and reinforcement but include work on mate choice, learning and imprinting, aposematic coloration, and brood parasitism. My main goal is to use mathematical models to integrate rigorous evolutionary theory with hypotheses explaining behavioral and ecological patterns and phenomena.
I study the ultimate and proximate factors controlling flexibility in reproductive behavior. Using songbirds as a system, I use field and laboratory studies to investigate the ecological cues regulating reproductive flexibility, the neural integration of these cues, and the neural mechanisms precipitating adaptive behavioral outcomes. Of particular interest is the study of courtship and mate-choice behavior and how the songbird brain integrates ecological and social information. I am also interested in how the timing of reproduction, reproductive effort, and family planning are controlled. I use high performance liquid chromatography for the measurement of central catecholamines and immunocytochemistry and microscopy for quantifying neuropeptides and the expression of immediate early genes as markers of neural activity.
