Presented on January 29, 2018 at 11:15 a.m. in the Krone Engineered Biosystems Building, Room 1005.Shannon Gourley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at Emory University. Her research team aims to understand why adolescence is a period of vulnerability to the development of multiple psychiatric illnesses.Runtime: 54:27 minutesSelecting actions based on their consequences is essential to day-to-day function and yet, is impaired in neuropsychiatric diseases like addiction. Goal-directed action selection likely requires the coordinated output of multiple prefrontal cortical structures, but mechanistic factors are still being identified. I will focus on the neurotrophin BDNF in the orbital prefrontal cortex and PI3-kinase in the medial prefrontal cortex, providing evidence that they are key molecular mechanisms by which the brain coordinates goal-directed action. These findings serve as a platform from which to improve goal-directed action selection following developmental cocaine
