Home Department: Undeclared
Mentor: Robert Malenka (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences)

"Effects of Early Life Stress on Neural Plasticity and Behavioral Flexibility through Norepinephrine"

Early life stress, including neglect or trauma, is strongly associated with persistent impairments in learning, emotional regulation, and stress responsiveness, yet the underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. This project examines how early life stress alters the development and function of norepinephrine circuits, a neuromodulatory system critical for attention, arousal, and synaptic plasticity. Using mouse models, we will assess the impact of developmental stress on circuit architecture, neuronal physiology, and behaviors related to anxiety, emotional learning, and cognitive flexibility in adulthood. Insights from this work may reveal mechanistic targets for interventions designed to restore adaptive brain function following childhood adversity.