Neurobiology of Behavior Lab

The Laboratory of Neurobiology of Behavior studies the role of corticolimbic systems and corticostriatal in behavioral phenotypes that model pathologies related to alterations of neuroplasticity processes. The corticolimbic and corticostriatal systems, neuroplasticity processes and genetic, environmental and pharmacological able to alter their work have a certain role in the susceptibility to develop psychopathology on impact from early experiences to which the individual is exposed. Recently it has been suggested that these environmental effects are mediated by charged epigenome individual changes. The harmful effect of exposure stressful environment would act on those that are supposed to be the mechanisms that mediate this effect, such as DNA methylation and histone acetylation. Moreover, the persistence of memory traces of positive and negative events can result in aberrant neuroplasticity and behavioral changes that may result in pathology.

Brain Plasticity

Plasticity is a fundamental property of neural systems and other cognitive functions, emotional and perceptual involved in both normal and pathological physiological processes. Neural plasticity has also an important therapeutic function. It has been shown that it is, for example, the basis of the recovery from the damage of brain injury or deprivation during development. Therefore it is of primary importance in the understanding of many brain functions and also for the development of therapies that lead to the improvement of functional recovery from the pathological condition. Since the regulation of gene expression is a common factor to the base of most forms of neural plasticity, the behavioral disorders can be caused by a non-adaptive behavioral plasticity and by neuroplasticity processes connected to it, which are caused by particularly intense emotional experiences. A key role in the genesis of these disorders have functional alterations in the corticolimbic and corticostriatal systems.