Dr. Frank Meye

Throughout my career, I have been fascinated by how brains encode motivational drives, and how this process can go awry. The research of my lab focuses on the neurobiology underlying the interplay between stressed states (due to environmental stressors) and motivated (reward seeking) behavior. Our scientific approach is to use high-resolution neurophysiological measurement techniques to determine, in preclinical models, how stressors change the strength of specific synapses and circuits in the brain (particularly focusing on those linked to processes of motivation, reward, emotional states, and behavioral control). Furthermore we use brain stimulation techniques to gauge the causal contributions of such stress-driven brain changes for motivated (feeding) behavior. Thus by mapping, monitoring, and then mimicking/preventing/reverting specific effects of stress in these brain systems, we seek to ultimately understand the complex relationship between stress and motivated behavior.