Understanding how social information is processed within the reward circuit

Understanding how social information is processed within the reward circuit has the potential to uncover molecular targets with positive therapeutic potential. The investigators’ research efforts using a model of early immune activation aim to elucidate the molecular and circuit modifications induced by these immunological factors that ultimately contribute to alterations in reward processing. It is the vision of this research that the specificity of the approach will uncover a novel therapeutic tool to help treat social dysfunction.

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Researcher: Brad Grueter, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Interviewer: Erin S. Calipari, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology