How do genes and life experiences shape our individuality? Our personality, beliefs, attitudes, decision-making ability, the way we respond to social stressors? How do environmental, experiential, and cultural influences modify the brain to shape an individual's personality, and how do these influences interact with genetic factors? What are the precise genetic and epigenetic mechanisms by which gene expression is regulated by environmental factors? And how do these mechanisms alter neural circuits underlying behavior?

These are the questions that inspire work in the CanliLab.

 

Our Approach

Our approach is to design studies that investigate the biological basis of individuality across multiple levels of analysis: from self-reports and behavioral studies to neuroimaging all the way down to molecular genetic and epigenetic studies.

 

Our Toolkit

Neuroimaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) makes use of the physical properties of electromagnetic fields to allow investigators noninvasive imaging of brain activation in healthy human volunteers. We collect fMRI data using a 3 Tesla Siemens Trio Scanner, located in the Stony Brook SCAN (Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience) Center, directed by Dr. Canli and funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation to Dr. Canli.

 

Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics

Our earlier work focused on specific gene polymorphisms and their association with individual differences in behavioral traits (e.g., impulsivity) and neural circuits. Our work has been published in PNAS, Nature neuroscience, Archives of General Psychiatry, Biological Psychology, and many other journals. Current work continues to study polymorphisms, but an increasing focus of our research is now directed at the molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression as a function of environmental influences.