As we navigate our day-to-day lives full of diverse and dynamic interactions with our environment, our brains show a remarkable capacity to change and adapt that enables us to be the best possible ‘fit’ on every occasion. This is what is known as ‘neural plasticity’ that keeps individual behavior in sync with their external environment. Underlying such malleability of the brain are subtle changes in tiny molecules deep inside the brain that ultimately translate into macroscopic changes that manifest as our behavior, such as learning new skills.

The goal of our research is to understand such molecular mechanisms underlying behavioral modifications in response to experiences. We particularly look at the molecular changes occurring at synapses, the specialized contact sites between neurons that form the core of the neural circuits. Our research focuses on the synapses that use glutamate as neurotransmitter that mediates excitatory synaptic transmission in the mammalian central nervous system, including forebrain and hippocampus. An in-depth molecular understanding of synapse function and plasticity is key to understanding the maintenance of healthy states as well as the emergence of disease states.

Synapse dysfunction is an early event that precedes the onset of clinical symptoms in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and can be targeted to prevent or rescue behavioral deficits in such conditions. But effective therapies for slowing down or stopping synapse loss are lacking. Our understanding of the mechanisms of synapse function and modulation will lay the groundwork for the future development of novel therapeutic approaches. We combine biochemical, cell biological, molecular and physiological approaches to pursue our goals.