What I'm investigating

I’m really interested in the molecules, cells and circuits in the spinal cord and brain that allow us to appreciate and react to the physical world around us. This is somatosensation, the study of touch, pain, temperature, balance and body position. In my lab, I study this holistically, from skin to cortex, with a major focus on the early stages of sensory processing in the spinal cord dorsal horn and brainstem. We are only beginning to appreciate what happens in the body. We know about the skin and brain, but what happens in between, in the spinal cord, is still a mystery. We do know that it’s not a passive transmission. Body and brain influence each other. I want to use fundamental knowledge we generate in the lab to then investigate how sensory processing can be disrupted in disorders like chronic pain or autism spectrum disorders. 

Why I study the brain

What I really study is what the body does with the brain and how sensory signals from the body are shaped by someone’s experience and internal state. It is fascinating that the same physical stimulus can evoke different perceptual, emotional or behavioral responses. Gentle touch can be perceived as painful for people with chronic pain, and some people with autism spectrum disorders may avoid physical contact altogether. There are new molecular-genetic tools and large-scale electrophysiology and computational approaches to explore the peripheral nervous system and body-brain physiology that make the science exciting right now.

What I like about Carney

What I love about Carney is how it forges meaningful collaborations between theoretical and computational neuroscientists and experimentalists. There is a lot of cross-talk. When I was a graduate student, I was enchanted by all the amazing research going on around me. Now that I’m back at Brown, I’m ready to build a research program in my own lab. The resources at Carney are unparalleled and I’m inspired and motivated by the collaborations we are planning.