Deficits in emotional processing are seen in some of the most common psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, which is highly co-morbid with substance abuse. Importantly, the prevalence of both anxiety disorders and substance abuse in early life is on the rise. Therefore, Diaz's lab's primary focus is to understand the long-lasting neurobiological, neurophysiological and behavioral alterations that result from various insults during early development. To examine mechanisms underlying dysfunctional neurocircuits related to altered behaviors, they use whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology, molecular techniques and optogenetics to assess changes in neuronal function at the molecular, cellular and network level.
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