This pre-clinical research group headed by Ingo Willuhn is embedded in Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The group is driven by the question: “How do we control our behavior?”. Specifically, the Neuromodulation and Behavior group is interested in how our brain controls motivated behavior and why we sometimes lose that control. The scientific focus lies on how the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine (and other neuromodulators such as serotonin) regulates cortico-basal ganglia networks under normal (e.g., reward learning, decision making), as well as pathological conditions (e.g., OCD, drug addiction). The group pursues these goals by collecting a range of neurobiological measurements in awake behaving rodents (using voltammetry, electrophysiology, fluorescence imaging) and by probing neural mechanisms with optogenetic, chemogenetic, and pharmacological interventions, as well as high-frequency electrical deep-brain stimulation (DBS) that can be applied in humans. In this context, the group also studies the therapeutic effects of deep-brain stimulation (DBS) on brain and behavior. In the long run, our research is intended to lead to novel insights that improve therapy in psychiatric patients.

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Team members