Welcome to the Haber Lab

Research Overview

Dr. Haber's laboratory investigates the neural network that underlies incentive-based learning and decision-making leading to the development of action plans. The cortico-basal ganglia system is at the center of this circuit and comprises a diverse group of structures involved in reward and motivation, cognition, and motor control.  The consequence of basal ganglia dysfunction is emphasized in the range of diseases that involve it, including mental health disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, drug abuse and addiction, and schizophrenia, and motor control disorders including Parkinson’s disease. One set of experiments in Dr. Haber's laboratory address the hypothesis that the cortico-basal ganglia network processes information through both parallel and integrative circuits.  A second set of studies focus on the pathway trajectories from different prefrontal areas to their targets.  A third set of experiments focus on which pathways and terminals fields are likely to be involved in the therapeutic effects of during deep brain stimulation (DBS).  A fourth set of studies address the changes in terminal fields and white matter tracts during postnatal development. Basal ganglia structures