Life is a steady stream of experiences, from the smallest events perceived by the senses to life-changing dramatic events. Our brain serves to select the relevant sensory information, and encode salient experiences to long-term memory, modifying our behavior in the future.
In the Citri Lab, we have two major research foci: 1) How a small & mysterious region called the claustrum supports the selection of relevant sensory information AND 2) How, subsequent to the selection of relevant sensory information, the brain encodes experiences, forming the basis of habits, compulsions and drug addiction. To this end we implement a variety of tools, studying these mechanisms at the molecular, synaptic, circuit and behavioral levels.
