We study how life experience shapes the brain to guide complex social behavior, and how these processes are altered by stress and trauma. Social and stressful experiences are among the most powerful forces sculpting brain function, yet the biological mechanisms that translate lived experience into lasting changes in social behavior remain poorly understood. That is the gap our work aims to fill.
We approach this problem across several levels of analysis, from molecular and synaptic mechanisms to neural circuits and behavior—and back again. To do this, we integrate state-of-the-art approaches—including viral circuit mapping, fiber photometry, optogenetics, chemogenetics, electrophysiology, and high-resolution behavioral analysis—to link experience-dependent plasticity to circuit dynamics and social behavior. By moving iteratively between levels, we aim to build mechanistic models of how experience reshapes the social brain over time.
Our lab is a collaborative and interdisciplinary team of neuroscientists united by a shared interest in the biology of social behavior. We are particularly motivated to identify molecular and circuit-level targets that could one day inform interventions for pathological aggression and other stress-related social dysfunctions.
We value rigorous science, open collaboration, and clear communication. Thanks for visiting—please reach out if you’d like to learn more about our work or explore opportunities to collaborate.
Lab News
I’m thrilled—and very proud—to share that Dr. Jessica Jacobs' paper on the role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) in social novelty–seeking has been published in The Journal of Neuroscience!!
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A big welcome to Alex Griswold, who has joined our lab as a PhD student! Learn more about him in our people’s tab!
Congrats to Magdalene Pine Adjei and Mikaela Aholt for successfully presenting posters on their exciting work at the 2025 Society for Neuroscience Conference in San Diego!
Very excited to announce that our latest paper has been published by the Journal of Neuroscience. Special shout outs to Magdalene Adjei, Elana Qasem, and Savannah Skinner for bringing this study to fruition. Great work team!
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Congratulations to Magdalene Adjei and Mikaela Aholt on receiving the Chandrashekhar Memorial Fund Travel Award to attend SFN 2025 in San Diego! Well done!
I'm delighted to share that Caitlyn Bartsch has been admitted into the MD/PhD program at the University of Missouri. Well deserved! Go tigers!
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We are very excited to announce that we received an NIH supplement award! This award provides much needed imaging equipment to complete the aims of one of our NIH grants. Congrats to all involved!
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Congratulations to Haresh for being awarded the 2025 SIU REACH award!!
Congratulations to Magdalene Adjei on being awarded the 2025 Florence M. Foote Physiology Scholarship! Well deserved!
We are thrilled to announce that our second NIH grant was awarded to study the neural mechanisms of learned aggression! There are many people to thank for this milestone, but I would like to highlight the contributions of Magdalene Adjei, Elana Qasem, Savannah Skinner, and our collaborator Dr. Ben Richardson. We look forward to sharing the results of this research with the scientific community. Congratulations team!!
We are thrilled to announce that our second NIH grant was awarded to study the neural mechanisms of learned aggression! There are many people to thank for this milestone, but I would like to highlight the contributions of Magdalene Adjei, Elana Qasem, Savannah Skinner, and our collaborator Dr. Ben Richardson. We look forward to sharing the results of this research with the scientific community. Congratulations team!!
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Contact
618-453-7162
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
1135 Lincoln Dr.
Life Sciences, Rm 2071, MC 6512
Carbondale, IL 62903