Biography
Our research program is focused on understanding how alcohol and stress impact brain synapses and circuits to promote alcohol use disorder. We are particularly interested in the prefrontal cortex region of the brain as it regulates mood, motivation and impulsivity, and its dysfunction plays a critical role in several psychiatric diseases. Specifically, alcohol-dependent patients have reduced cortical volumes and significant cognitive deficits (e.g. difficulties with emotional processing, risky decision-making, lack of inhibitory control). One significant barrier to developing pharmacological treatments that address these cognitive deficits is that the precise actions of alcohol and stress on prefrontal cortex synapses and circuits are not well understood. The fact that prefrontal cortex activity can be modulated by many different neuropeptides, neurotransmitters and neuroimmune factors widens this information gap, but also provides an excellent opportunity to identify novel therapeutic targets for improving cognitive function after chronic alcohol exposure. Therefore, research in the Varodayan lab spans three major questions:
- Which prefrontal cortex synapses and circuits are alcohol- and stress sensitive?
- How does cortical circuit/synaptic modulation by various neuropeptides, neurotransmitters and neuroimmune factors contribute to the adverse behavioral outcomes of alcohol use disorder?
- What role do shared neural substrates in the prefrontal cortex play in the synergistic interaction between alcohol and stress?
Our ultimate goal is to translate our neurobiological findings into innovative therapeutic strategies to provide better treatment for patients suffering from comorbid alcohol- and anxiety/stress-related psychiatric diseases.
Education
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship, The Scripps Research Institute
- PhD in Neurobiology & Behavior, Columbia University
- MPhil in Neurobiology & Behavior, Columbia University
- MSc in Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
- BA in Biochemistry and Biology, University of Pennsylvania
Research Interests
- Alcohol use disorder
- Stress
- Cognitive function
- Synaptic transmission
- Neuroimmune signaling
- Sex differences