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David J. Anderson
David J. Anderson
Seymour Benzer Professor of Biology; Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience Leadership Chair; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Director, Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience
Expertise
Neurobiology of emotions and related internal states; innate behaviors; neural circuits of aggression, mating and fear; behavioral neurobiology; affective neuroscience
Profile
Anderson's research focuses on understanding how emotional behavior is encoded in the brain, at the level of specific neuronal circuits, and the specific neuronal subtypes that comprise them. This information will provide a framework for understanding how and where in the brain emotions are influenced by genetic variation and environmental influence, and may someday lead to improved drugs to treat psychiatric disorders such as depression.
Languages Spoken
English;
Faculty Bio
A.B., Harvard University, 1978; Ph.D., Rockefeller University, 1983. Assistant Professor, Caltech, 1986-92; Associate Professor, 1992-96; Professor, 1996-2004; Roger W. Sperry Professor, 2004-09; Benzer Professor, 2009-; Chen Institute for Neuroscience Leadership Chair, 2017-; HHMI Investigator, 1989-; Director, 2017-.
Caltech Affiliations
Director, Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience
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