Centanni Lab
Neurobiology of stress and alcohol use disorder
Stress is an evolutionarily conserved behavioral state that is key to survival, yet this same experience negatively impacts numerous diseases. Stress is inextricably linked to affective disorders and substance use disorders as it can cause and exacerbate the severity of symptoms. Despite this impact, the fundamental neurocircuitry recruited while experiencing this distinct stressed state is unclear. How does stress impact the brain at a molecular and circuit level before stress-related disorders manifest? The Centanni Lab is driven by this fundamental question with the overarching goal of uncovering new diagnostic and interventional strategies for affective disorders and substance use disorders.
Strategic Goals
- Identify unique dysfunctional nodes of the stress response network that contribute to affective disorders and alcohol use disorder.
- Uncover circuit biomarkers for affective disorders and alcohol use disorders by correlating prodromal circuit activity patterns with negative emotional behavior in disease states.
- Characterize stress and alcohol-induced changes in synaptic physiology and transcriptomic profiles within specific circuits.
- Perform interventional studies to mitigate dysfunctional circuitry in AUD and negative affective disorders