Issa, Fadi

The Issa laboratory is dedicated to better understand the neurobiological bases of motivation, aggression and social stress. A central question to our research is how the brain is wired and how does it adapt to social challenges. In most social animals, the brain is highly plastic and adapt to environmental changes. However, the mechanisms underlying neural plasticity that allow animals to adapt to an ever changing environment remain poorly understood. We use zebrafish as a model organism to probe how agonistic social interactions morph the structural and functional organization of the nervous system during social rise and fall. Our research is integrative and employs genetic, electrophysiological, in vivo calcium imaging, histological and behavioral approaches.