Lab
Research Interests
The Giovanniello Lab studies how we learn and make decisions, focusing on the brain’s control of these behaviors. The brain uses two primary control strategies: goal-directed and habitual. Goal-directed behavior involves thinking ahead about the consequences of our actions, and it’s flexible but mentally demanding. Habitual behavior happens automatically, based on past success, and is less flexible but saves mental energy. The lab explores the brain circuits that control the shift between these strategies and how factors like stress, drug use, and genetics can affect these circuits. Employing behavioral studies alongside advanced neuroimaging and optogenetic techniques, their research aims to elucidate these processes, potentially leading to insights into conditions like addiction, autism, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Education
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Neuroscience, University of California Los Angeles
- PhD, Biology/Neuroscience, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
- Sc.B., Human Biology, Brown University
Memberships
- Society for Neuroscience
- International Behavioral Neuroscience Society
- Pavlovian Society
Honors & Awards
- NIH Pathway to Independence Award K99/R00, NIMH
- A.P. Giannini Postdoctoral Fellowship
- UCLA Brain Research Institute Scheibel Distinguished Fellow in Neuroscience Award
- NIH NRSA F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship